Hydrochloric Acid → 4,4-difluoro-1-(3-fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl)butane-1,3-dione

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Reaction Steps

Ethyl difluoroacetate (4.06 g, 32.7 mmol) was placed in a 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask, and dissolved in methyl tert-butyl ether (50 mL). To the stirred solution was added 25% sodium methoxide (7.07 g, 32.7 mmol) followed by 3'-fluoro-4'-methoxyacetophenone from Step 1 (5.0 g, 29.7 mmol). After stirring for 16 hours, 1N HCl (50 mL) was added. The organic layer was collected, washed with water (2×50 mL), dried over anhydrous MgSO4, filtered, and added to hexanes to precipitate a tan solid (7.0 g, 96%): mp 70°-72° C.; 1H NMR (DMSO-d6) 8.0 (m, 3H), 7.3 (t, 1H), 6.9 (s, 1H), 6.5 (t, 1H), 3.9 (s, 3H).

Provenance & Evidence