Diethyl Oxalate → HCID 178473089, compound

Participants

Reaction Steps

Sodium metal (1.35 g, 58 mmol) was cut into small pieces, rinsed with hexane to remove mineral oil, and added portion wise to anhydrous EtOH (100 ml) under a nitrogen atmosphere over a period of 20 min. The reaction mixture was stirred for a further 10 min until all sodium had reacted. 1-[2,4-bis(benzyloxy)-5-chlorophenyl]ethanone (10 g, 27.3 mmol) was added portion wise over 5 min, and the resulting suspension was then stirred for further 5 min at RT. Diethyloxalate (6 ml, 43 mmol) was added, resulting in a thick yellow coloured precipitate. The reaction mixture was heated to reflux for 4 h, affording a dark homogeneous solution, which, upon cooling, produced a solid mass to which acetic acid (6 ml) was added. The mixture was triturated to afford a yellow solid, which was filtered, washed sequentially with water, EtOH, and Et2O, and then dried under vacuo to afford the title compound ethyl 4-(2,4-bis(benzyloxy)-5-chlorophenyl)-2-hydroxy-4-oxobut-2-enoate (12.4 g, 98%) as a yellow solid.

Provenance & Evidence