Tetrahydrofuran → 7-Ethyl-beta-(phenylmethyl)-1H-indole-ethanol

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

To a stirred suspension of lithium aluminum hydride (0.702 g, 18.5 mmol) in 80 mL of anhydrous tetrahydrofuran under nitrogen at 0° C. was slowly added (about 1.5 hours) a solution of 7-ethyl-α-(phenylmethyl)-1H-indole-3-acetic acid methyl ester (prepared in Step 2) (5.17 g, 16.8 mmol) in 30 mL of anhydrous tetrahydrofuran. The resulting dark red mixture was heated under reflux for 2 hours. It was cooled to 0° C., and quenched by the dropwise addition of 40 mL of water. The precipitated aluminum salts were removed by filtration and washed with ether. The layers of the filtrate were separated, and the aqueous layer was washed with ether. The combined ether layers were washed with saturated sodium chloride, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and concentrated to give the desired alcohol as a brown oil (4.51 g, 96%).

Provenance & Evidence