5-Fluoro-2-methylphenol → 3-Fluoro-6-methyl-2-nitrophenol

Participants

Reaction Steps

A stirred solution of 5-fluoro-2-methylphenol (640 mg, 5 mmol) in 20 mL of anhydrous acetonitrile was cooled to −30° C. to −40° C. and treated with nitronium tetrafluoroborate (740 mg, 5.5 mmol). After 45 minutes, the reaction mixture was diluted with 100 mL of cold water and extracted with three 50 mL portions of dichloromethane. The combined organic layers were washed with three 25 mL portions of water, dried over sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo to give a reddish crystalline solid. Chromatography over SiO2 (5% ethyl acetate in hexanes) gave 0.58 g of the title product as bright yellow solid (68% yield).

Provenance & Evidence