Water → Ethyl 4-(benzyloxy)-2-hydroxy-6-methylbenzoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Ethyl-2,4-dihydroxy-6-methyl benzoate (4 g, 21 mmol) is dissolved in acetone (80 mL) and to this solution is added potassium carbonate (2.9 g, 21 mmol) and benzyl bromide (2.5 mL, 21 mmol). This mixture is heated at reflux for 16 hours. To the cooled reaction is added ethyl acetate (100 mL) and water (100 mL). The organic layer is washed with water (2×80 mL) and brine (2×80 mL), then dried over magnesium sulfate and the solvent removed in vacuo. The crude is purified by column chromatography (silica, 10% ethyl acetate in hexanes) to give the title compound: 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.38 (m, 5H), 6.41 (d, 1H), 6.38 (d, 1H), 5.05 (s, 2H), 4.40 (q, 2H), 2.51 (s, 3H), 1.40 (t, 3H).

Provenance & Evidence