Sulfuric Acid → Ethyl 5-methoxy-2,4-dioxopentanoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Under nitrogen atmosphere sodium (1.61 g, 70.0 mmol) was dissolved in small pieces in a flask containing dry ethanol (150 ml). Diethyl oxalate (8.15 ml, 60 mmol) and methoxyacetone (5.52 ml, 60.0 mmol) were added with a syringe. The resulting mixture was stirred at RT for 1 h. The flask was put in an ice bath and into it a mixture of sulphuric acid and ice water was added dropwise. The resulting precipitate was filtered and washed with DCM. The ethanol/DCM filtrate was evaporated. The residue was dissolved in DCM, extracted with brine and the DCM phase dried with Na2SO4, filtered and evaporated. The product was purified with flash chromatography. 1H-NMR (400 MHz; DMSO-d6): δ 1.28 (t, 3H), 3.34 (s, 3H), 4.19-4.23 (m, 2H), 4.27 (q, 2H).

Provenance & Evidence