Formaldehyde → 3-[(dimethylamino)methyl]Benzenemethanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

3-Bromo-N,N-dimethylbenzylamine (21.4 g) was reacted with magnesium turnings (2.4 g) in dry tetrahydrofuran (75 ml). The mixture was cooled to 0° and gaseous formaldehyde (generated by heating 15 g paraformaldehyde in a stream of argon) was passed over the stirred solution. Tetrahydrofuran (25 ml) was added and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2.5 hours and acidified to pH 1. The mixture was extracted with aqueous 3N hydrochloric acid, and the aqueous extracts were made alkaline with aqueous sodium hydroxide and extracted with ether. The ether extracts were evaporated to give 3-(dimethylaminomethyl)benzyl alcohol (14.78 g, 78%).

Provenance & Evidence