Sodium borohydride → 5-(tert-Butyl)-2-(hydroxymethyl)phenol

Participants

Reaction Steps

A stirred, cooled (ice-bath) solution of a 1:1 mixture of trifluoro-methanesulfonic acid 5-tert-butyl-2-formyl-phenyl ester and 4-tert-butyl-2-hydroxy-benzaldehyde (Intermediate 105, 0.47 g) in methanol (8 mL) was treated with sodium borohydride (0.1 g, 2.64 mmol). After 1 h, the reaction mixture was diluted with water and extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic phase was washed with water and brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and evaporated in vacuo to a residue that was subjected to flash column chromatography on silica gel (230-400 mesh) to afford the title product (0.3 g).

Provenance & Evidence