2-Oxobutanoic Acid → HCID 11041594, compound

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 2-oxobutyric acid (11.5 g, 113 mmol), and benzyl alcohol (14.0 mL, 135 mmol) in benzene (100 mL) was heated to reflux under a Dean-Stark water separator. After refluxing for 16 hrs˜2 mL of water had collected in the trap (˜100% of theoretical). The reaction mixture was allowed to cool to ambient temperature, and then concentrated under reduced pressure to afford a pale yellow oil. The crude material was purified by flash chromatography eluting with a gradient from 0% to 15% ethyl acetate/hexane to afford 2-oxo-butyric acid benzyl ester (13.0 g, 60% yield) as a clear colorless oil. 1H-NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 7.42-7.35 (5H, m), 5.28 (5H, s), 2.87 (2H, q, J=7.2 Hz), 1.12 (3H, t, J=7.2 Hz).

Provenance & Evidence