Methanol → (3,5-Dimethyl-4-hydroxy-phenyl)-acetic acid methyl ester

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A solution of (3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-phenyl)-acetic acid (5a) (12.4 g, 0.069 mmol) in methanol (300 mL) was treated with concentrated sulfuric acid (6.25 mL). The resulting solution was heated to 70° C. overnight. At this time, the reaction was cooled to room temperature. The reaction was concentrated under vacuum. The residue was diluted with ethyl acetate (700 mL) and was washed with water (2×250 mL). The organics were dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under vacuum to give an orange solid. The solid was slurried in 10% ethyl acetate/petroleum ether and was stirred for 1 h. The solid was collected by filtration, washed with 10% ethyl acetate/petroleum ether, and dried under vacuum overnight. The residue was purified by column chromatography using silica gel eluted with 10-15% ethyl acetate in petroleum ether to afford (3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-phenyl)-acetic acid methyl ester (6a) (1.93 g, 86%) as an off-white solid; EI(+)-HRMS m/z calcd for C11H14O3 (M+) 194.0943, found 191.0942. Molecular Weight=194.2324; Exact Mass=194.0943

Provenance & Evidence