Water → 2-Methyl-6-oxoheptanoic acid

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A suspension of potassium permanganate (195.7 g, 1.24 mol) in water (1390 ml) was added carefully to a mixture of 2,6-dimethylcyclohexanone (120.0 g, 0.95 mol) and water (600 ml) while stirring vigorously the mixture at 30° C. or lower over a period of about 1 hour, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. The produced manganese dioxide was filtrated, and the filtration cake was washed with methyl tert-butyl ether (250 ml) and water (250 ml). The organic layer of the filtrate was separated, and the aqueous layer was adjusted to pH 1.0 with 35% concentrated hydrochloric acid (about 150 ml), and sodium chloride (400 g) was added and the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate (300 ml×5), and the organic layer was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, then, the solvent was distilled off under reduced pressure, and the resultant residual oil was distilled under reduced pressure by a vacuum pump. Fractions of boiling points of 130 to 144° C./267 Pa were collected, to obtain 79.92 g (yield 53.2%) of a racemate of 2-methyl-6-oxoheptanoic acid.

Provenance & Evidence