Synthesis of 3-fluoro-4-methoxyphenol (14): 20 g of 3-fluoro-4-methoxyphenyl acetate (13, 0.11 mol) was dissolved in 200 ml of ethanol and 100 ml of 20% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution was added slowly. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 3 hours. Subsequently, the reaction solution was washed with water and acidified with 6N hydrochloric acid (HCl). The separated oil was extracted with ether and the extract was dried with anhydrous magnesium sulfate (MgSO4). After removal of the solvent under reduced pressure, a solid residue was obtained, which was purified by recrystallization from hexane, resulting in 13 g of the target product (83.3% yield).
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