Thionyl Chloride → (2-Iodo-3-methylphenyl)methanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

Thionyl chloride (6 mL) was added over 1 min to a 0° C. solution of 2-iodo-3-methyl benzoic acid (3.0 g, 11.4 mmol) in DCM (10 mL). The solution was stirred for 24 h at rt and the volatile components were removed in vacuo. A portion of the crude acid chloride (955 mg) was dissolved in THF (15 mL) and NaBH4 (380 mg, 10 mmol) was added. After stirring for 90 min, multiple spots were evident by TLC analysis. The reaction mixture was cooled to −78° C. and solid LiAlH4 (300 mg, 7.91 mmol) was added. The reaction was stirred for 30 min, after which TLC analysis showed one major spot. The reaction was quenched by addition of EtOAc (10 mL) and was slowly poured into a vigorously stirred solution of HCl (1M, 30 mL). EtOAc (70 mL) was added, the layers were separated, and the organic layer was washed with NaHCO3 (3×15 mL), water (15 mL), brine (40 mL), and was dried over sodium sulfate. Removal of the solvent in vacuo yielded the title compound (752 mg, 89%) as a thick oil which was used without further purification. 1H-NMR (CDCl3): δ 7.27 (m, 2H), 7.20 (m, 2H), 4.74 (m, 2H), 2.50 (s, 3H), 2.0 (br s, 1H).

Provenance & Evidence