Veratrole → 3-Ethyl-5,6-dimethoxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-inden-1-one

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 1,2-dimethoxy-benzene (Compound 47a) (21.9 mL, 0.170 mole) and pent-3-enoic acid (Compound 47b) (25.5 g, 0.255 mole) was stirred under argon in an ice bath. Polyphosphoric acid (230 g, 1.05 mole) was added slowly. After addition was complete, the ice bath was removed and the reaction heated for 16 hours at 60° C. The reaction was added to ice water and extracted with dichloromethane. The organic extracts were washed with 3N NaOH, water, brine and dried over Na2SO4. The solvent was then removed in vacuo to yield a red oil containing the crude title compound. The crude material was purified on a silica gel column using dichloromethane as eluent. The pure fractions were combined and concentrated to yield the racemic mixture of the title compound as an off-white solid. MS m/z 221 (M+H)+;

Provenance & Evidence