Water → Ethyl 4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-oxobutanoate

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Reaction Steps

4-Methoxyphenylacetyl chloride (76 g, 0.413 mole) was added to a stirred suspension of ethyl acetoacetate, sodium salt (62.8 g, 0.413 mole) in ether (250 ml) over a period of 1.5 hours and the reaction was allowed to sit for 3 days. The reaction mixture was treated with water (100 ml) and extracted with ether. The ether extract was cooled in an ice bath and ammonia gas was bubbled into the solution for 2.5 hours while the reactants were allowed to warm to room temperature. The reaction was washed with water, filtered and the ether fraction was stirred with 3N hydrochloric acid (100 ml) for 16 hours. The ether layer was washed with water, 5% sodium bicarbonate, brine and dried with sodium sulfate. The solvent was removed and the residue was distilled on a kugelrohr apparatus to give the product as a yellow oil (19.7 g, 20%).

Provenance & Evidence