Imidazole → 3-(3-Methoxyphenyl)propyl iodide

Participants

Reaction Steps

A magnetically stirred solution of 3-(3-methoxyphenyl)propan-1-ol (62.48 g, 375.9 mmol), triphenylphosphine (128.6 g, 490.4 mmol), and imidazole (35.53 g, 516.7 mmol) in anhydrous acetonitrile (300 mL)/anhydrous diethyl ether (600 mL) at 5° C. was treated portion wise with iodine (136.20 g, 536.6 mmol). The yellow suspension turned orange with the last addition. The suspension was stirred 45 min, filtered, the cake washed with fresh diethyl ether (300 mL), the combined filtrate was concentrated in vacuo to 300 mL and diluted with diethyl ether (200 mL). The resultant organic solution was washed with saturated sodium thiosulfate (2×500 mL), saturated cupric sulfate (2×500 mL), brine (2×500 mL), filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was digested with hexanes (300 mL), filtered and concentrated in vacuo. Kugelrohr distillation (0.1 torr, 120° C.) provided the desired product as a yellow liquid (88.10 g, 85%): 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ 7.20 (t, J=8 Hz, 1 H), 6.81-6.73 (m, 3 H), 3.81 (s, 3 H), 3.17 (t, J=8 Hz, 2 H), 2.70 (t, J=8 Hz, 2 H), 2.14 (quint, J=8 Hz, 2H).

Provenance & Evidence