Formaldehyde → N-phenylmethoxymethanimine

Participants

Reaction Steps

O-Benzyl-hydroxylamine hydrochloride (125.0 g, 0.78 mol) was combined with toluene (400 mL) under nitrogen. The resulting slurry was cooled in an ice bath and formalin (37%, 75 mL) was added. A 50% solution of NaOH (70 mL) was added portionwise maintaining an internal temperature of not more than 35° C. After the addition of NaOH was complete, water (100 mL) was added and the reaction mixture was stirred at ambient temperature for 2.5 hours. The layers were then separated and the aqueous layer was extracted with toluene. The combined organic layers were dried over Na2SO4, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The resulting oil was distilled (65-70° C., 10 torr) to obtain formaldehyde O-benzyl-oxime. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ ppm 5.12-5.13 (s, 2 H) 6.46 (d, J=8.23 Hz, 1 H) 7.08 (d, J=8.23 Hz, 1 H) 7.28-7.35 (m, 1 H) 7.36 (dd, J=4.19, 0.62 Hz, 4 H).

Provenance & Evidence