Phenylacetone → HCID 6512704, compound

Participants

Reaction Steps

Phenylacetone (Aldrich Chem. Co. 13,538-0; Beilstein 7, 303), XXVIa (101 g, 0.75 mol) was combined with 100 g (1.35 mol) of ethyl formate and added all at once to a suspension of 50 g (0.75 mol) of sodium ethoxide in 500 ml of THF. After 3 hours at room temperature the brown solution was diluted with 400 ml of H2O. Following extraction with benzene to remove unreacted starting material, the aqueous phase was acidified with dilute HCl. The product was extracted with benzene, washed with H2O, dried over MgSO4, and concentrated to give an oil. Distillation gave 39 g (0.24 mol) of (Z)-1-hydroxymethylene-1-phenylacetone, XXVIIa, as a colorless oil, bp 65°-69° C (0.3 mm).

Provenance & Evidence