Ethylene Glycol → 2-(2-Hydroxyethoxy)-1-(1-naphthyl)ethanol

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 4.5 g of potassium tert-butoxide and 45 ml of ethylene glycol was heated to 80° C. Thereto was dropwise added 13.7 g of 2-(1-naphthyl)oxirane in 1 hour. The resulting mixture was stirred for 1 hour at the same temperature. The reaction mixture was cooled and added to a mixture of 50 ml of ethyl acetate and 50 ml of ice water. The organic layer was separated. The aqueous layer was extracted twice each with 20 ml of ethyl acetate. The extracts were combined with the previously separated organic layer. The combined organic layer was washed with water and a saturated aqueous sodium chloride solution in this order, and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate. The solvent was removed by distillation under reduced pressure. The residue thus obtained was purified by column chromatography (eluant: toluene/ethyl acetate=1/3) to obtain 8.3 g of 2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-1-(1-naphthyl)ethanol.

Provenance & Evidence