Acetic Anhydride → 2-Acetamido-3-methoxypropanoic acid

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Reaction Steps

Into a vessel, equipped with a mechanical stirrer, was added O-methyl-D,L-serine (1.0 eq.) at 20° C. Tetrahydrofuran (6 volumes) and water (0.65 volume) were added. Acetic anhydride (1.2 eq.) was added dropwise over 5 minutes. The white suspension was stirred mechanically until complete conversion was observed by HPLC monitoring (approximately 16 h), by which time the reaction mixture had become homogeneous. The tetrahydrofuran and water were removed azeotropically. Toluene was added in order to effect complete removal of water and acetic acid (KF and GC control). The wet solid was dried at 40° C. under vacuum overnight. The title compound (90% yield) was obtained as a white solid with a chemical purity of >98% as measured by HPLC.

Provenance & Evidence