Water → 4-(tert-Butoxycarbonyl)benzoic acid

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A slurry of terephthalic acid di-tert-butyl ester (6.1 g, 0.022 mole) in tert-butanol (30 mL) was added to 1N KOH (22 mL, 0.022 mole). The mixture was heated to 60° C. for 7-8 hours. After cooling the mixture was treated with water and extracted 3 times with ethyl acetate. The aqueous layer was acidified with diulute HCL and the product was extracted into ethyl acetate. After washing of the organic layer with a saturated aqueous NaCl solution and drying over MgSO4, the solvent was filtered and concentrated to yield terephthalic acid mono tert-butyl ester as a white solid (4.7 g, 96%) melting at 100°-102° C.

Provenance & Evidence