Synthesis
General procedure for the synthesis of 3-pyrrolidinemethanol from methyl 5-oxopyrrolidine-3-carboxylate: 2 kg of methyl 5-oxo-3-pyrrolidinecarboxylate was dissolved in 20 liters of tetrahydrofuran, and 1.9 kg of sodium borohydride was added in batches at room temperature. Subsequently, 3.9 kg of boron trifluoride ether solution was slowly added dropwise. After the dropwise addition, the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 10 minutes and then heated to reflux for about 4 hours. After completion of the reaction, the reaction was quenched with water, extracted with ethyl acetate and concentrated to give a light yellow oily liquid. This oily liquid was dissolved in ethanol, 500 g of sodium borohydride was added and the reaction was refluxed for 2 hours. The reaction was quenched with water again, extracted with ethyl acetate, and the organic phase was washed with saturated aqueous sodium bicarbonate and saturated brine in turn, and finally the organic phase was concentrated to obtain 1.2 kg of 3-pyrrolidinylmethanol with a yield of 86%.
