GENERAL STEPS: In a dry reaction flask, sodium hydride (3.1 g, 77.1 mmol) was suspended in diethyl carbonate, followed by the slow addition of 3'-methylacetophenone (4.5 g, 33.54 mmol). The reaction mixture was heated at 80 °C and stirred continuously for 2 hours. Upon completion of the reaction, ice water and acetic acid were carefully added to the reaction mixture to quench the reaction. The resulting mixture was washed with saturated sodium chloride solution and then extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was separated and dried with anhydrous magnesium sulfate and subsequently concentrated under reduced pressure. The resulting residue was purified by fast column chromatography to give 5.8 g of ethyl (3-methylbenzoyl)acetate in 84% yield. The product was characterized by 1H-NMR (200 MHz, CDCl3): δ 7.73-7.63 (m, 2H), 7.42-7.28 (m, 2H), 4.27-4.18 (m, 2H), 3.97 (s, 2H), 2.40 (s, 3H), 1.36-1.23 (m, 3H).
