2,5-Dimethylanisole → 4-Methylcatechol

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

To an ice-cold concentrated nitric acid (200 mL) was added slowly under stirring over a period of 20 minutes 2-methoxy-1,4-dimethylbenzene (25 g, 184 mmol). To this cold reaction mixture, sodium nitrite (38 g, 552 mmol) was added slowly in lots over a period of 1 h while maintaining the temperature below 2° C. The reaction mixture was stirred at between 0-5° C. for 5 h. The reaction mass was poured into ice-cold water (1000 mL), and the precipitated solid was filtered, washed with cold water (100 mL) and dried. The crude solid was crystallized from ethanol and water (7:1) to yield compound 1 (15 g, 45%).

Provenance & Evidence