Nitric Acid → N-(5-Acetyl-2-nitrophenyl)acetamide

Participants

Reaction Steps

Fuming white nitric acid (3.6 g) was added dropwise to acetic anhydride (12 ml) at 0+ C. and stirred for 15 minutes. The N-(3-acetyl-phenyl)-acetamide (2 g; 11.3 mmol) was then added portionwise and the reaction mixture allowed to warm to room temperature. After stirring at room temperature for 15 minutes, the reaction mixture was poured onto ice (200 ml). Dichloromethane (200 ml) was added and the organic layer was separated, dried (magnesium sulphate), filtered and evaporated to give the crude residue. This was purified by column chromatography to give N-(5-acetyl-2-nitro-phenyl)-acetamide (515 mg), which was directly hydrolysed by heating in 6M hydrochloric acid (15 ml) at 80° C. for 2 hours. The cooled reaction mixture was basified using saturated sodium bicarbonate solution and then extracted into ethyl acetate (6×30 ml). The organic layers were dried (magnesium sulphate), filtered and evaporated to give the crude residue. This was purified by column chromatography (50% ethyl acetate in heptane) to give 3-amino-4-nitroacetophenone (226 mg, 11%).

Provenance & Evidence