General procedure for the synthesis of ethyl 2-bromopropionate from ethanol and 2-bromopropionic acid: (a) (ii) A solution of Et2O (5 mL) in 1 M HCl was added to a solution of EtOH (200 mL) in 2-bromopropionic acid (25 g). The reaction mixture was heated to reflux overnight. Upon completion of the reaction, the solvent was removed by rotary evaporator to give a yellow oily product, ethyl 2-bromopropionate, in a yield of 20.4 g (about 75% yield). The product was characterized by 1H NMR (500 MHz, CDCl3): δ 4.36 (q, J = 7.00 Hz, 1H), 4.24 (qd, J = 7.00 Hz, 2.69 Hz, 2H), 1.83 (d, J = 7.08 Hz, 3H), 1.31 (t, J = 7.20 Hz, 3H).
