Hydrochloric Acid → 2-Ethoxy-4-methoxybenzoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

2-Ethoxy-4-methoxybenzoic acid ethyl ester (13 g, 58 mmol) was suspended in ethanol (150 mL). This was treated with potassium hydroxide (40 mL, ˜4 M) and refluxed for 1 h. The reaction was cooled and poured into cold aqueous hydrochloric acid (300 mL, 2 M) and extracted into dichloromethane (3×200 mL). The organic layers were washed with brine and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate. The solids were filtered off, and the filtrate was evaporated to dryness to give 2-ethoxy-4-methoxybenzoic acid (9.5 g, white solid).

Provenance & Evidence