Methyl indole-7-carboxylate → (1H-indol-7-yl)methanol

Participants

Reaction Steps

Solid lithium aluminum hydride (1.0 g) is added in portions over 1 hour to a stirred solution of methyl 7-indolecarboxylate (6.7 g) in tetrahydrofuran (100 ml). The mixture was stirred for a further 2 hours then excess lithium aluminum hydride was destroyed by addition of acetic acid, the mixture is diluted with aqueous sodium hydroxide and extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract is dried and evaporated and the residue is chromatographed on silica in ethyl acetate-hexane (1:9 to 1:2) to give the product.

Provenance & Evidence