Benzoic Acid → (3R,4S)-[1-benzyloxycarbonyl-4-hydroxypyrrolidin-3-yl]methanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

(3R,4R)-[1-Benzyloxycarbonyl-4-hydroxypyrrolidin-3-yl]methanol (2.50 g), triphenylphosphine (5.74 g) and benzoic acid (2.55 g) were dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (60 mL). While this solution was chilled in a salt/ice bath, diethyl azodicarboxylate (40% toluene solution, 9.53 mL) was added dropwise. The mixture was stirred at 0° C. or below for 1 hour and then at room temperature for 2 hours and was subsequently concentrated under reduced pressure. The resulting residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (eluant: hexane:ethyl acetate=2:1). The eluted pale brown tar-like material was dissolved in ethanol (60 mL). To this solution, potassium carbonate (4.07 g) in water (30 mL) was added and the mixture was refluxed for 3 hours while being stirred. Subsequently, the reaction mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure and the residue was dissolved in dichloromethane (200 mL). This solution was washed with saturated brine (2×50 mL), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and concentrated under reduced pressure. The resulting residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (eluant: ethyl acetate:methanol=10:1) to give (3R,4S)-[1-benzyloxycarbonyl-4-hydroxypyrrolidin-3-yl]methanol as a milky white syrup (2.04 g).

Provenance & Evidence