Ethanol → Ethyl 2-(2,4-di-tert-butylphenoxy)caproate

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

206 g (1 mol) of 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol were melted and heated to 140° C. under nitrogen. 185 g (1.03 mol) of a 30% strength NaOMe solution in MeOH and 245 g (1.1 mol) of ethyl 2-bromocaproate were metered in simultaneously in the course of 1 hour. During the addition, a mixture of MeOH and EtOH was distilled off. After the addition, the reaction to give the ester mixture was complete. The mixture was cooled to 80° C., 20 g of NaOMe solution were added and 750 ml of ethanol were then added in the course of 4 hours. A methanol/ethanol mixture distilled off at an overhead temperature of initially 74° to 76° C. At the end, the temperature was increased to 90° C. and pure ethanol distilled over at 78° to 79° C. For isolation, 250 ml of water were added. After separation of the phases and renewed washing with 200 ml of water, 351 g of a viscous yellow oil of the following composition (0.3% of ethyl bromocaproate, 0.7 g of residual phenol, 98% of ethyl 2-(2,4-di-tert-butylphenoxy)caproate and 0.3% of methyl 2-(2,4-ditert-butylphenoxy)caproate, remained. This corresponds to a yield of 98.8% of theory, based on the phenol employed.

Provenance & Evidence