Iodoethane → Methyl 5-acetyl-2-ethoxybenzoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Iodoethane (16.4 g, 0.105 mol) was added to a stirred mixture of 5-acetyl-2-hydroxybenzoic acid methyl ester (10 g, 51.5 mol) and anhydrous potassium carbonate (14.4 g, 0.104 mol) in 2-butanone (200 ml) and the resulting mixture heated under reflux for 3 days. The solvent was removed by evaporation under vacuum and the residue partitioned between water (100 ml) and ethyl acetate (100 ml). The aqueous phase was removed and extracted with further ethyl acetate (4×100 ml). The organic solutions were combined, dried (Na2SO4) and evaporated under vacuum. The residue was chromatographed on silica gel (130 g), using a methanol in dichloromethane elution gradient (0-1% methanol), to give the title compound as colourless crystals (10.15 g, 89%) m.p. 50°-55° C. Found C,64.88; H,6.38. C12H14O4 requires C,64.85; H,6.35%.

Provenance & Evidence