Potassium Acetate → Methyl 3-(acetoxymethyl)-4-nitrobenzoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

In a 5-liter three-necked round-bottomed flask equipped with a reflux condenser, overhead stirrer and nitrogen inlet, was placed 411 g of the previously prepared methyl 3-bromomethyl-4-nitrobenzoate, 441 g of anhydrous potassium acetate and 2 l of glacial acetic acid. The resulting mixture was refluxed for 4 hours, cooled to room temperature and stirred overnight. The solvent was removed in a rotary evaporator and the resulting light yellow solid treated with a mixture of 2 l of ethyl acetate and 1 l of water. The organic phase was separated, washed with water (3×400 mL), brine (1×400 mL) dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate and the solvent removed using a rotary evaporator. The crude reaction mixture was triturated with hexane and filtered yielding 318 g of the expected methyl 3-acetoxymethyl-4-nitrobenzoate. This compound was used as such in the next step.

Provenance & Evidence