Nitric Acid → 4-(4-Nitrobenzyl)-benzoic acid

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

70% Nitric acid (3.16 mL) was added dropwise to a suspension of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (9.34 mL, 105.6 mmol) in dichloromethane (250 mL). The suspension was cooled in a dry ice-acetone bath and a solution of 4-benzyl-benzoic acid (10.19 g, 48 mmol) in dichloromethane (50 mL) was added dropwise. The mixture was stirred for about 2 hours at −78° C. and an additional 2 hours at room temperature. The reaction mixture was poured into crushed ice. The separated organic layer was washed with dichloromethane (2×) and the combined organic layers were dried over (Na2SO4), and solvents were evaporated. Recrystallization of the crude product from methanol/ethyl acetate gave 4-(4-nitrobenzyl)-benzoic acid (9.27 g, 58%) as a yellow solid.

Provenance & Evidence