Ethyl Acetate → 2-((Dimethylamino)methyl)-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

Tramadol hydrochloride was dissolved in purified water. To this solution, approximately 1.5-fold molar amount of sodium hydroxide was added and dissolved therein. Then, approximately 2-fold volume of ethyl acetate was further added thereto, and the ethyl acetate fraction was collected using a separatory funnel. From this fraction, ethyl acetate was distilled off to obtain tramadol (pKa 9.41) as oil. This tramadol and an equimolar amount of 2-ethylhexanoic acid were added to methanol and uniformly mixed. Then, methanol was distilled off to synthesize 2-ethylhexanoate of tramadol as viscous oil. The obtained viscous oil was directly applied to rock salt plates and measured for its infrared absorption spectrum (FTIR8400S manufactured by Shimadzu Corp.).

Provenance & Evidence