Synthesis
General procedure for the synthesis of 4-fluoro-1,2-dimethoxybenzene from 3,4-dimethoxyaniline:
1. Continuous diazotization step: material A (50 mL containing 3,4-dimethoxyaniline (100 mmol), fluoboric acid (120 mmol), hydrochloric acid (180 mmol)) and material B (50 mL containing aqueous sodium nitrite solution) were mixed in a reaction tube at 25 °C with a residence time of about 15 seconds. Subsequently, sodium nitrite solution (105 mmol) was pumped into the reaction system through a T-fitting at a flow rate of 4 mL/min. The reaction mixture flowed out through the outlet and was collected in a cooling vessel, maintaining vigorous stirring during the process. The resulting slurry was cooled to -5°C and then pumped. The solids were washed with methanol and subsequently dried under vacuum to give the corresponding diazonium tetrafluoroborate.
2. Continuous fluorination carbonylation process: a slurry of the above prepared diazonium tetrafluoroborate in 300 mL of co-solvent was introduced continuously into the reaction tube at a flow rate of 4 mL/min. The mixture was kept at a set temperature for 1 min and subsequently cooled in the tandem tube. The collected liquid was washed with aqueous NaOH and water to give an almost colorless liquid of 4-fluoro-1,2-dimethoxybenzene.
References
[1] Tetrahedron Letters, 2013, vol. 54, # 10, p. 1261 - 1263
[2] Patent: CN105503549, 2016, A. Location in patent: Paragraph 0018; 0019; 0020
[3] Journal of Organic Chemistry, 1986, vol. 51, # 21, p. 4073 - 4075
[4] Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 2018, vol. 57, # 31, p. 9896 - 9900
[5] Angew. Chem., 2018, vol. 130, p. 10044 - 10048,5