5-Hydroxy-2-nitrobenzyl alcohol

Uses

5-Hydroxy-2-nitrobenzyl alcohol may be used in the synthesis of 5-(2′-(dimethylamino)ethoxy)-2-nitrobenzyl alcohol. It may be used as difunctional photo-responsive initiator in the synthesis of thermo-responsive and photo-cleavable amphiphilic block copolymers containing photodegradable linkers as junction points between hydrophilic and hydrophobic chains.

Synthesis

General procedure for the synthesis of 5-hydroxy-2-nitrobenzaldehyde from 5-hydroxy-2-nitrobenzenemethanol: Sodium borohydride (1.4 g, 37.84 mmol) was slowly added to a solution of 5-hydroxy-2-nitrobenzaldehyde (4.07 g, 24.35 mmol) in methanol (30 mL) while the reaction mixture was cooled in an ice water bath. After the addition was completed, the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. Upon completion of the reaction, the solvent was removed by distillation under reduced pressure and the residue was recrystallized in methanol to give 4.0 g (23.62 mmol, 97% yield) of 5-hydroxy-2-nitrobenzyl alcohol.

References

[1] Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 2006, vol. 45, # 17, p. 2753 - 2757
[2] Patent: US2007/213278, 2007, A1. Location in patent: Page/Page column 29; Sheet 9
[3] Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 2013, vol. 51, # 20, p. 4309 - 4316
[4] Journal of Organic Chemistry, 1998, vol. 63, # 8, p. 2434 - 2441
[5] Chemistry - A European Journal, 2015, vol. 21, # 5, p. 1873 - 1877