Carbon Dioxide → Methyl N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-DL-alaninate

Participants

Reaction Steps

6 g-moles of 2,6-dimethylaniline, 6.6 g-moles of NaHCO3 and 18.0 g-moles of α-bromopropionic acid methyl ester are placed together and heated slowly, with stirring, for 1 hour upto 120°-125° C. bath temperature. As CO2 is evolved, stirring of the mixture at this temperature is continued for 18 hours. The mixture is subsequently cooled, the inorganic constituents are filtered off, and the filtrate distilled in a water-jet vacuum (ca. 10- 12 Torr). After removal of the excess α-bromopropionic acid methyl ester, the resulting yield is 990.3 g (79.6% of theory) of final product, which boils at 133°-134° (12 Torr).

Provenance & Evidence