Water → [5-Methyl-2-(2-phenylethenyl)-1,3-oxazol-4-yl]methanol

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Reaction Steps

Ethyl 5-methyl-2-styryl-4-oxazolecarboxylate (2.14 g) was dissolved in a mixture of dry tetrahydrofuran (10 ml) and dry ethyl ether (15 ml) and the solution was added dropwise to a suspension of lithiumaluminum hydride (0.34 g) in dry ethyl ether (20 ml) with ice-cooling and stirring. The mixture was further stirred under ice-cooling for an hour and water (2 ml) was added portionwise for decomposition. The precipitate was filtered off and the filtrate was concentrated to give 4-hydroxymethyl-5-methyl-2-styryloxazole as crystals; yield 1.28 g (71.5%). Recrystallization from acetone gave colorless prisms melting at 106°-107° C.

Provenance & Evidence