Acetic Acid → HCID 54062313, compound

Participants

Reaction Steps

A total of 19.1 g of sodium cyanoborohydride (0.304 mol) is added in portions to a solution of 42.2 g (0.203 mmol) of ethyl (R)-3-amino-4-phenylbutyrate obtainable by esterification of the known (R)-3-amino-4-phenylbutyrate with ethanol, 11.6 ml (0.203 mol) of glacial acetic acid, 33.3 g (0.406 mol) of sodium acetate and 20.9 ml ((0.207 mol) of benzaldehyde in 400 ml of methanol at -5° to 5°. After the addition is complete, reaction is allowed to go to completion at room temperature for 1 hour. The yellow suspension is almost completely concentrated in a rotary evaporator, and the pasty residue is partitioned between ethyl acetate and water which is adjusted to about pH 8 with ammonia solution. The organic phases are washed with water and brine until neutral, dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated to dryness, resulting in a yellow oil. This is chromatographed on silica gel with methylene chloride/methanol 99:1, resulting in the title compound of the formula as a pale yellow oil. The oxolate is obtained by adding oxalic acid to an ethereal solution of the title compound.

Provenance & Evidence