Acetic Acid → 1-Cyclohexyl-4-(4-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl)-2-methyl-2-phenylbutan-1-one

Participants

Reaction Steps

3-Phenyl-3-cyclohexanecarbonyl-butan-1-al (57.8 g, 224 mmol) was dissolved in methylene chloride (1650 mL) followed by addition of 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazine hydrochloride (56.3 g, 246 mmol). Acetic acid (41 mL) may optionally be added to turn the slurry into a solution. To the stirred solution, sodium triacetoxyborohydride (60.3 g, 284 mmol) was slowly added. A slight exotherm resulted and a slurry was produced. The reaction mixture was stirred for an additional 3 hours at room temperature. The reaction was then quenched by addition of 2.0 N sodium hydroxide (1050 mL) producing a pH of about 10 for the quenched reaction mixture. The mixture was then extracted with methylene chloride (2 times, 1L and 300 mL). The organic extracts were combined, washed successively with 1.0 N HCl (600 mL), 1.0 N sodium hydroxide (600 mL), brine (600 mL), dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under vacuum to provide the final title compound as a thick oil;

Provenance & Evidence