Ethylene Glycol → 2-({[4-(1,1-Dimethylethyl)phenyl]methyl}oxy)ethanol

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

Ethylene glycol (0.084 mL, 1.5 mmol) was added to NaH (38 mg, 1.52 mmol, 95% in oil) in THF (3 mL). 1-(Bromomethyl)-4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)benzene (0.28 mL, 1.5 mmol) was added to the reaction, and the residual 1-(bromomethyl)-4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)benzene was transferred to the reaction tube with additional THF (1 mL). (Bu)4NI (55 mg, 0.15 mmol) was then added, and the reaction was heated at 60° C. for 18 h and then rt for 4 h. H2O (2 mL) and EtOAc (2 mL) were added, and the layers were separated via pipette. The aqueous layer was extracted with EtOAc (1×1 mL), and the combined organic layers were concentrated. The crude product was purified on a SPE cartridge (5 g silica) eluting with the following 10 mL fractions: 10% EtOAc/hexanes (fractions 1,2), 30% EtOAc/hexanes (fractions 3,4), and 50% EtOAc/hexanes (fractions 5,6) to give the title compound (312 mg, 51%). The product was characterized by 1H NMR (400 MHz) in CDCl3.

Provenance & Evidence