Acetic Acid → Ethyl 2-chloro-3-hydroxy-3-phenylpropionate

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of ethyl 2-chloro-3-oxo-3-phenylpropionate (CI, EXAMPLE 1, 6.8 g, 30 mmol) in dichloromethane (68 ml) is cooled to −5° and a solution of zinc borohydride (0.4 M, 38 ml, 15 mmol) in ether is added dropwise over 30 mins. After the addition, the reaction mixture is stirred at 0° for 30 mins and then poured into a cold solution (0°) of acetic acid (5 ml) in water (15 ml). The resulting mixture is extracted with dichloromethane (30 ml×2). The combined organic extracts are washed with water (30 ml), dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue is chromatographed (silica gel; ethyl acetate/hexane, (5/95 to 25/75) to give the title compound which is a 1:9 mixture of anti and syn isomers as determined by NMR.

Provenance & Evidence