General procedure for the synthesis of 4-bromo-1-(bromomethyl)-2-methylbenzene from (4-bromo-2-methylphenyl)methanol: Phosphorus tribromide (54.2 g, 0.2 mol) was slowly added dropwise to a solution of dichloromethane (1 L) of intermediate 12 (100 g, 0.5 mol) at 0 °C. After the dropwise addition was completed, the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours. After completion of the reaction, the pH of the mixture was adjusted with saturated NaHCO3 solution to 7. The organic layer was separated, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated under vacuum to afford the title product 4-bromo-1-(bromomethyl)-2-methylbenzene (128 g, 97% yield).1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.43 (t, 1H), 7.32- 7.37 (m, 2H), 4.67 (s, 2H), 2.33 (s, 3H).
