Methyl iodide → alpha-Methyl-[2-(2-nitro-5-trifluoromethylphenyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)ethyl]propanedioic acid, dimethyl ester

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Reaction Steps

[2-(2-Nitro-5-trifluoromethylphenyl)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)ethyl]propanedioic acid, dimethyl ester (7.00 g; 15.4 mmole) was dissolved in dry dimethylformamide (35 ml) under argon. Prewashed (hexane) 50% sodium hydride (0.89 g; 18.4 mmole) was added with stirring. Stirring was continued for 20 minutes before iodomethane (filtered through alumina) (11.6 g; 5.1 ml; 81.5 mmole; sp. gr.=2.24-2.27; 5 eq.) was added dropwise. The mixture was allowed to stir a total of 4.5 hours. The solution was partitioned between ethyl acetate and 1N hydrochloric acid, and the organic layer was collected and washed again with 1N hydrochloric acid, saturated potassium carbonate, saturated sodium chloride, and dried (magnesium sulfate). The concentrated residue was flashed (silica gel/9:1-hexane:ethyl acetate, followed by 8:2-hexane:ethyl acetate). The product was collected from the appropriate fractions and concentrated giving 6.90 g of the title compound as a viscous oil.

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