Hydrochloric Acid → Ethyl 1-benzyl-2-methyl-4-oxo-3-pyrrolidinecarboxylate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Potassium t-butoxide 1N in THF (17.5 ml, 17.5 mmol) was added to an ice cooled solution of ethyl 3-[benzyl(2-methoxy-2-oxoethyl)amino]butanoate (4.6 g, 15.6 mmol) in toluene (30 ml). The reaction was allowed to warm to room temperature and stir overnight. To this 1 N HCl (30 ml) was added, the reaction was stirred for 8 h, was neutralized with sodium carbonate and extracted with methylene chloride (3×75 ml). The combined organic layer was washed with water, brine, dried over magnesium sulfate and concentrated to give ethyl 1-benzyl-2-methyl-4-oxo-3-pyrrolidinecarboxylate (3.4 g, 83%) as an oil, MS (M+H)+=262.

Provenance & Evidence