Nitric Acid → Methyl 5-chloro-2-ethyl-3-nitrobenzoate

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A solution of methyl 5-chloro-2-ethylbenzoate (1.08 g, 5.4 mmol) in concentrated sulphuric acid (7.0 ml) was cooled to −5° C. in an acetone/ice bath. A mixture of 70% nitric acid (0.45 ml, 7.1 mmol) and concentrated sulphuric acid (0.5 ml) was added dropwise to the reaction mixture at −5° C. over 15 minutes. The resulting pale yellow reaction mixture was stirred at −5° C. for 1 hour before being poured onto ice (100 ml) and extracted with CH2Cl2 (3×20 ml). The combined organic phases were washed with deionized water (20 ml), brine (20 ml), dried over Na2SO4, filtered and concentrated in-vacuo. The resulting oil was added to a solution containing methanol (25 ml) and thionyl chloride (0.75 ml) at 0° C. Following addition, the mixture was heated under gentle reflux for 6 hours, before cooling to room temperature and concentrating in-vacuo to give the title compound (1.2 g) as an orange oil which was used without further purification in the next step.

Provenance & Evidence