Acetonitrile → Ethyl 2-[4-(2-ethoxy-2-hydroxyethyl)-2,5-dimethylphenoxy]acetate

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Reaction Steps

Ethyl 2-[4-(2,2-dimethoxyethyl)-2,5-dimethylphenoxy]acetate (43 g) was dissolved in acetonitrile (190 g) while stirring. To the resulting solution was added 10% perchloric acid (216 g), and the mixture was stirred for an hour at room temperature. The reaction mixture was partitioned between toluene (340 g) and water (200 g). The organic layer was washed with water, an aqueous solution of sodium bicarbonate and brine successively, and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, followed by concentration under reduced pressure. The residue was dissolved in ethanol (180 g), and the solvent was removed under reduced pressure. The residue was dissolved with hexane (86 g) and ethanol (37 g). After seed crystals were added, the solution was stirred at 0-10° C. for 2 hours. Hexane (220 g) was added, and the resulting suspension was stirred at 0-10° C. for 2 hours. The precipitated crystals were filtered to give ethyl 2-[4-(2-ethoxy-2-hydroxyethyl)-2,5-dimethylphenoxy]acetate (21 g).

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