Arbutin → N-[(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethylidene]glycine

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Reaction Steps

Ingredients. (1) Water 97.5 (2) Resacetophenone 1.5 (3) Glycine 1.0. Procedure. The mixture of all ingredients is heated at 90 to 95 C for 2 hours. A solution of N-[(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethylidene]glycine in water is obtained. It is then hydrogenated over Ni catalyst, filtered, and then acidified to pH 6.5. [RS]-N-[(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)ethyl]glycine is thus obtained, which is then resolved into the corresponding [R] and [S] optical isomers. Both the [R,S] and [R] and [S] compounds thus obtained are esterified with methanol/thionyl chloride method to the corresponding methyl esters, which are used directly in cosmetic compositions of the present invention.

Provenance & Evidence