Synthesis
The general procedure for the synthesis of 2-hydroxymethylmorpholine from 4-Boc-2-morpholinecarboxylic acid was as follows: to a solution of N-Boc-2-morpholinecarboxylic acid (2 g) in tetrahydrofuran (THF, 5 mL) was slowly added a borane-THF complex (1N, 10.38 eq.) at 0 °C. The reaction mixture was stirred at 0 °C for 30 min, then brought to room temperature and continued stirring for 2 hours. Upon completion of the reaction, the reaction was quenched by careful addition of water (200 mL) and then extracted with dichloromethane (CH2Cl2). The organic phase was dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) and concentrated under reduced pressure to give 490 mg of the crude product (26% yield). Finally, the crude product was dissolved in 4N hydrochloric acid/dioxolane solution with stirring to give the amine salt of 2-hydroxymethylmorpholine.
