Methyl iodide → Diisopropyl (2R,3S)-2-hydroxy-3-methylsuccinate

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

To a cold (−78° C.) solution of diisopropyl-(S)-(−)-malate (4.72 mL, 22.9 mmol, 1 eq.) in anhydrous THF (8.50 mL) was added slowly a solution (1 M) of lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide (48.1 mL, 48.1 mmol, 2.10 eq.) in THF. The temperature was raised to 20° C. over 30 minutes, than lowered again to −78° C. Iodomethane (1.7 mL, 28 mmol, 1.20 eq.) was added and the mixture stirred at RT for 16 hours. The reaction mixture was then cooled to 0° C. and a saturated solution of NH4Cl was added. The resulting mixture was diluted with water, extracted three times with EtOAc. The combined organic phases were washed with brine, dried over MgSO4, filtered and evaporated under reduced pressure. The residue was then purified by chromatography (SiO2, 20/80 EtOAc/c-hex) to give the product (mixture of diatereoisomers) as a colourless oil (3.77 g, 71%).

Provenance & Evidence