Methyl iodide → 4-Bromo-N-methyl-2-nitro-6-(trifluoromethoxy)aniline

Participants

Reaction Steps

A solution of 4-bromo-2-nitro-6-(trifluoromethoxy)aniline (1.962 g, 6.52 mmol, commercially available from, for example, Apollo Scientific) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) (80 mL) was cooled with an ice/water bath to ˜0° C. for 10 min. Cesium carbonate (4.25 g, 13.04 mmol) was then added and stirred, and the colour changed from yellow to red. After 10 min, methyl iodide (0.408 mL, 6.52 mmol) was added and the mixture was allowed to return to rt with stirring under nitrogen for 3 h. LCMS showed 90% conversion to the desired product with no starting material remaining, and ˜10% formation of an impurity. The reaction mixture was partitioned using water (400 mL) and EtOAc (400 mL), and the aqueous layer re-extracted with EtOAc (2×400 mL). The combined organics were backwashed with water (400 mL) and then passed through a hydrophobic frit and concentrated in vacuo to give the crude product as a yellow oil. The sample was loaded in dichloromethane and purified on silica (Si) (100 g) using 100% cyclohexane. The appropriate fractions were combined and evaporated in vacuo to give the required product (1.368 g, 67%) as an orange solid.

Provenance & Evidence