General procedure for the synthesis of methyl 2-amino-6-methylbenzoate from methyl 2-methyl-6-nitrobenzoate: Methyl 2-methyl-6-nitrobenzoate (3.80 g, 19.5 mmol) was mixed with 10% palladium-carbon catalyst (1.03 g in 50% water) in methanol (20 mL) and the reaction was stirred for 1.5 h at 20-25 °C under hydrogen atmosphere. Upon completion of the reaction, the palladium-carbon catalyst was removed by filtration, followed by distillation under reduced pressure to remove the solvent to afford the target product methyl 2-amino-6-methylbenzoate (3.13 g, 97% yield). The product was characterized by 1H-NMR (CDCl3) with chemical shifts δ: 2.43 (3H, s), 3.88 (3H, s), 6.52 (1H, d, J=7.9 Hz), 6.54 (1H, d, J=7.9 Hz), 7.08 (1H, t, J=7.9 Hz).
