Methanol → Methyl 2-chloro-3-nitrobenzoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a stirred solution of 2-chloro-3-nitrobenzoate (1.0 g, 5.0 mmol) in anhydrous methanol (10 mL) at 0° C. was added thionyl chloride (0.5 mL, 7.4 mmol) dropwise and the reaction mixture was stirred overnight at reflux. The mixture was diluted with methanol and concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the excess thionyl chloride and then re-dissolved in ethyl acetate, washed with saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate, re-extracted with ethyl acetate, dried (Na2SO4), filtered, and concentrated under reduced pressure to give methyl 2-chloro-3-nitrobenzoate (1.1 g, 98%) as a white foam that was used in the next step without further purification: 1H NMR (300 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 8.21 (d, J=1.5 Hz, 1H), 8.07 (dd, J=7.8, 1.5 Hz, 1H), 7.73 (t, J=8.1 Hz, 1H), 3.91 (s, 3H).

Provenance & Evidence