Step 1: 4-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)cyclohexanone (6.0 g, 31.6 mmol) was dissolved in DMF (90 mL) and K2CO3 (21 g, 158 mmol, 5 eq.) and 2-iodopropane (15 mL, 26.8 g, 158 mmol, 5 eq.) were added sequentially. The reaction mixture was stirred at 100 °C overnight. After completion of the reaction, the solvent was removed by distillation under reduced pressure. The residue was treated with water and extracted with EtOAc. The organic phases were combined, washed with saturated brine, dried over anhydrous Na2SO4 and concentrated under reduced pressure to give spectrally pure 4-(4-isopropoxyphenyl)cyclohexanone (7.02 g, 95% yield).1H NMR (CDCl3): δ 7.14 (dt, 2H), 6.84 (dt, 2H), 4.3 (septet, 1H), 2.97 (tt, 1H) , 2.46-2.52(m, 4H), 2.16-2.24(m, 2H), 1.83-1.98(m, 2H), 1.33(d, 6H).
