Potassium Hydroxide → 2-Methyl-3,4,6-trifluorobenzoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a solution of 1.04 g of 2,3,4,5-tetrafluoro-6-methylbenzoic acid in 15 ml of ethanol were added 840 mg of potassium hydroxide, 232 mg of pentaethylene hexamine and 200 mg of 20% palladium hydroxide. The mixture was stirred in a hydrogen atmosphere at room temperature for 3 hours. After addition of water, the reaction mixture was filtrated through celite and the filtrate was washed with diethyl ether. The aqueous layer was adjusted to pH 1 with concentrated hydrochloric acid and extracted with dichloromethane. After evaporating the solvent, the residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (eluent; ethyl acetate:n-hexane=1:3) to give 761 mg of 3,4,6-trifluoro-2-methylbenzoic acid (yield: 80%).

Provenance & Evidence