Water → (Phenylmethoxy)acetaldehyde

Participants

Reaction Steps

Into a suspension of water (1055 g) and sodium periodate (406 g) was dropped 3-benzyloxy-1,2-propanediol (366 g, 2.0 mol) at 20 to 25° C. over a period of 21 hours, and the mixture was stirred for 2 hours. Ethyl acetate (495 ml) was added, and the mixture was filtrated and washed. The aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate (825 ml) again, and the organic layers were combined, and washed with a 10% sodium thiosulfate aqueous solution (363 g). The organic layer was treated with phosphoric acid to regulate pH to around 7, then, washed twice with 5% saline (660 g) and dehydrated over anhydrous magnesium sulfate (100 g). Magnesium sulfate was filtrated off, and hydroquinone (1.3 g) was added, the solvent was distilled off, to obtain a title compound (259 g, yield 85.9%).

Provenance & Evidence