2-Nitropropane → Methyl 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-4-methyl-4-nitropentanoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

1,8-Diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (33.7 mL, 225.2 mmol) was added to a solution of methyl 2-(4-chlorophenyl)acrylate (36.9 g, 187.7 mmol) and 2-nitropropane (20.2 mL, 225.2 mmol) in CH3CN (500 mL) at 0° C. under nitrogen. The mixture was warmed to room temperature and stirred overnight. The solution was concentrated in vacuo and subjected to column chromatography (20% EtOAc/hexanes) to give methyl 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-4-methyl-4-nitropentanoate (52.9 g, 98.7% yield) as an oil. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ 7.31-7.29 (m, 2H), 7.21-7.19 (m, 2H), 3.66 (s, 3H), 3.60-3.57 (m, 1H), 2.87-2.81 (dd, 1H), 2.39-2.34 (dd, 1H), 1.56 (s, 3H), 1.55 (s, 3H).

Provenance & Evidence