Potassium Formate → N-benzyl-4-hydroxy-3-oxobutanamide

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

N-benzyl-4-bromo-3-oxobutanamide (compound B 50 g, 185.1 mmol) was dissolved in methanol (400 ml), and potassium formate (31.14 g, 370.2 mmol) was added. The resulting mixture was heated under reflux for 2 hours. Methanol was removed by distillation under reduced pressure; the residue was taken up into ethyl acetate (250 ml) under reflux, filtered hot, the filter cake washed with warm ethyl acetate (100 ml). The combined filtrate was cooled to −10° C., aged for 1.5 hours. The precipitate was collected, washed twice with cold ethyl acetate (2×25 ml), dried to give N-benzyl-4-hydroxy-3-oxobutanamide (18.2 g, 101 mmol, 38.8% yield).

Provenance & Evidence