Water → 1-(2-(Hydroxymethyl)phenyl)ethanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a suspension of 12 g of lithium aluminium hydride in 50 ml of dry diethyl ether was added dropwise with stirring a solution of 25 g (152.4 mM) of 2-acetylbenzoic acid in 120 ml of dry tetrahydrofuran. After heating under reflux for 6 hours, the mixture was cooled and treated carefully with 12 ml of water, 12 ml of 10% sodium hydroxide solution and 24 ml of water. The solution was filtered, the filtrate was dried over magnesium sulphate, filtered and evaporated to yield the title compound as a colourless waxy solid.

Provenance & Evidence