Synthesis
Step 2: Synthesis of 2-methyl-5-hydroxymethylthiazole
At room temperature, 2-methyl-5-hydroxymethylthiazole (12 g, 0.1 mol) was dissolved in dichloromethane (500 mL) and the resulting solution was cooled to 0-5 °C in an ice water bath. Subsequently, triphenylphosphine (52 g, 0.2 mol) and carbon tetrabromide (66 g, 0.2 mol) were added to the cooled mixture in batches. After the addition was completed, the reaction mixture was allowed to warm up naturally to room temperature and stirred continuously at this temperature for 2 hours. Upon completion of the reaction, the mixture was concentrated and purified by silica gel column chromatography (eluent ratio of petroleum ether:ethyl acetate = 2:1), resulting in a yellow solid product (3.3 g, overall yield in two steps: 15%).
