Step 2: Preparation of 2-(4-bromo-2-methoxyphenyl)acetic acid; A mixture of 4-bromo-2-methoxyphenylacetonitrile (873 mg, 3.86 mmol), water (5 mL), sodium hydroxide (463 mg, 11.6 mmol) and methanol (20 mL) was heated and reacted for 16 hours at 80 °C. After completion of the reaction, the mixture was cooled to room temperature and concentrated to give an off-white powder. The powder was suspended in water (100 mL) to form a milky white solution, which was washed with ether (100 mL). Subsequently, the aqueous phase was acidified to pH 1 with 1N aqueous hydrochloric acid and extracted with ethyl acetate (100 mL). The organic phase was dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to give the target compound 2-(4-bromo-2-methoxyphenyl)acetic acid (440 mg, 47% yield) as a white solid.1H NMR (400 MHz, methanol-d4) δ ppm: 3.52 (s, 2H), 3.66-3.78 (m, 3H), 6.94-7.11 (m, 3H).
