Sodium Hydroxide → 2-(1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazol-5-yl)benzoic acid

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Reaction Steps

Methyl 2-cyanobenzoate (0.124 moles, 20.0 g) was dissolved in 55 g tributyltinazide and heated at 85° C. for 72 hours. The solution was allowed to cool. Methanol (200 ml) and water (50 ml) were added. The solution was stirred for 1 hour. Ethyl acetate and brine were added. The organic layer was dried and evaporated. The residue was triturated 3 times with large volumes of hexane, dissolved in chloroform, and precipitated with hexane. The precipitate was filtered to yield 10.0 g of ethyl 2-(2H-tetrazol-5-yl)benzoate. The ester (6.8 moles, 1.4 g) was dissolved in 5 ml ethanol and 10 ml of 2N NaOH added and heated on a steam bath for 1 hour. The solvent was removed under vacuum. The residue was dissolved in water. The pH was adjusted to 2.0 using 2N HCl. The intermediate was extracted with ethyl acetate to yield 0.8 g of 2-(2H-tetrazol-5-yl)benzoic acid.

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