Bromoform → 2-Methoxy-2-(4-morpholinophenyl)acetic acid

Participants

Reaction Steps

An oven-dried flask was charged with 4-(4-morpholinyl)benzaldehyde (10.1 g, 53 mmol), anhydrous methanol (60 mL) and anhydrous dioxane (60 mL) then fitted with an addition funnel. The addition funnel was charged with a solution of KOH (14.8 g, 264 mmol) in anhydrous methanol (60 mL) and an aliquot (˜2 mL) was added to the reaction mixture. Bromoform (5.8 mL, 67.1 mmol) was added to the reaction mixture then the remaining KOH/MeOH solution was added dropwise over 10 minutes. After stirring for 18 h, the mixture was filtered through Celite and rinsed with methanol. The filtrate was collected and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was then diluted with saturated aqueous NH4Cl and extracted with EtOAc. Additional EtOAc was then used to extract the aqueous phase while slowly adjusting the pH from ˜8 to ˜2 using concentrated HCl. A total of approximately 1.5 L of EtOAc was used for the extraction process. The combined EtOAc extracts were dried over Na2SO4 and filtered. Concentration of the filtrate in vacuo gave 2-methoxy-2-(4-morpholinophenyl)acetic acid as a tan solid (7.25 g, 58%).

Provenance & Evidence