Dimethyl Sulfoxide → Anisole, m-pentadecyl-

Participants

Reaction Steps

Into a 2-liter round-bottomed flask was placed 500 milliliters (ml) of dimethyl sulfoxide, 100 grams (g) of 3-(n-pentadecyl)phenol (0.33 mol), and 73.55 g of potassium hydroxide (1.31 mol). To this mixture, 93.5 g of methyl iodide (0.66 mol) was added drop wise with stirring at room temperature. After the addition, the reaction mixture was stirred for a further 6 hours. Then the reaction mixture was poured into deionized water (1.5 liters). The organic material was extracted by addition of diethyl ether. The diethyl ether layer was separated, washed with water, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and finally evaporated to afford the crude product as a viscous fluid. This material was purified by silica gel column chromatography using petroleum ether as the eluent to furnish 3-(n-pentadecyl)anisole (104.6 g, 97% of theoretical yield) having a melting range of 27-28° C.

Provenance & Evidence