Synthesis
To a stirred solution of 18-crown-6 (7.18 g, 27.16 mmol), THF (30 mL), bis
(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) phosphite (1) (0.95 mL, 5.97 mmol), KHMDS (13.0 mL, 6.50
mmol, 0.5 M in toluene) was added by syringe in a dropwise manner at -78 oC. After 15
min, tert-butyl bromoacetate (0.80 mL, 5.41 mmol) was added to the round bottom flask
and the reaction mixture warmed to room temperature over 4 hr. After workup procedure
as outlined in the general method, the crude product was then purified by flash column
chromatography (6:1-3:1 hexanes:EtOAc, Rf
= 0.19 in 3:1 hexanes:EtOAc) yielding
Tert-butyl 2-(bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) phosphoryl) acetate (1.345 g, 3.73 mmol, 69.0%) as a yellow syrup.