Water → tert-Butyl 3-methoxyazetidine-1-carboxylate

Participants

Reaction Steps

A suspension of sodium hydride (2.89 g) in tetrahydrofuran (50 ml) was stirred while cooling in an ice bath. A solution of tert-butyl 3-hydroxyazetidine-1-carboxylate (5.00 g) in tetrahydrofuran (50 ml) was gradually added thereto, followed by stirring at the same temperature for 30 min. Then, the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 30 min. The reaction mixture was again stirred while cooling in an ice bath for 15 min. To the reaction mixture was added dropwise iodomethane (3.09 ml), followed by stirring for 2 hr. Water was gradually added to the reaction mixture. When bubbling stopped, the organic layer was separated. The aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was combined, washed with brine, and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The solvent was removed, and the residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (eluent; heptane:ethyl acetate=3:1, 2:1, 1:1, then ethyl acetate). Fractions containing the target compound were concentrated to provide the titled compound as a colorless oil (1.80 g, 33.3%). Fractions containing the starting material were concentrated for recovery (2.10 g, 42.0%).

Provenance & Evidence