Formaldehyde → 4-{[(2-Fluoro-4-hydroxy-phenyl)-methyl-amino]-methyl}-2-methyl-benzoic Acid Methyl Ester

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 4-[(2-fluoro-4-hydroxy-phenylamino)-methyl]-2-methyl-benzoic acid methyl ester (1.89 g, 6.53 mmol) and 2.0 mL of 37% formaldehyde in 20 mL of acetic acid is stirred for 40 minutes. Sodium triacetoxyborohydride (2.80 g, 13.2 mmol) is added. Upon completion, the mixture is concentrated and partitioned between ethyl acetate and saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate. The aqueous layer is extracted with ethyl acetate (3×). The combined ethyl acetate layers are dried (MgSO4) and concentrated. The residue is purified on 120 g silica with ethyl acetate in heptane gradient (10% to 60%) to provide 1.0 g (51%) of the titled compound as a white solid. LC-ES/MS m/e 304.0 (M+1).

Provenance & Evidence