Sulfuric Acid → 2-Oxocyclopentaneheptanoic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

A suspension of 10.9 g. of ethyl-7-(1'-methoxycarbonyl-5'-oxocyclopentyl)-heptanoate in 100 ml. of distilled water containing 6 g. of conc. sulfuric acid was refluxed under nitrogen. Progress of the reaction was followed by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy analysis of a sample at intervals. After 48 hours the reaction was virtually complete and the mixture was cooled and extracted with one volume of ethyl ether. The aqueous layer was separated and extracted and extracted again with one volume of ether and the combined ethereal extracts were dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to a colorless oil which was sufficiently pure for the next step in the process. Yield was 6.6 g., about 99%.

Provenance & Evidence