Diethyl Oxalate → 4-Methyl-2-oxo-4-phenylpentanoic acid ethyl ester

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

2-Phenyl-2,2-dimethylethylmagnesium bromide (10 mmol, 20 mL of 0.5 M solution in diethyl ether) was added to solution of diethyl oxalate (1.5 g, 10.5 mmol) in anhydrous THF (20 mL) cooled to −78° C. and maintained under argon. After 1 hour, TLC in hexanes-EtOAc (7:1) indicated most of the diethyl oxalate had been consumed. The reaction mixture was quenched with a saturated solution of ammonium chloride and extracted with three 50 mL portions of EtOAc. The combined extracts were dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated in vacuo to give a light brown, thick oil which was purified by flash column chromatography over silica gel eluting with 5% EtOAc in hexanes to yield 4-methyl-2-oxo-4-phenylpentanoic acid ethyl ester as a light yellow oil (1.1 g, 51%).

Provenance & Evidence