3-Hydroxy-4-methoxyphenylacetic acid

774-81-2

1131-94-8

General procedure for the synthesis of 3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenylacetic acid from 3-bromo-4-methoxyphenylacetic acid: sodium hydroxide (24.5 g, 612 mmol) and copper sulfate pentahydrate (1.02 g, 4.08 mmol) were added to a 125 mL sealed tube, followed by the addition of water (60 mL) to dissolve. The mixture was cooled and 3-bromo-4-methoxyphenylacetic acid (10 g, 40.8 mmol) was added. The reaction tube was sealed and placed in an oil bath at 150°C with stirring for 20 hours. After completion of the reaction, it was cooled to room temperature and the pH was adjusted slowly and dropwise to 3 by adding concentrated hydrochloric acid.The reaction mixture was filtered by pumping and the filter cake was washed with water. The collected solid was purified by column chromatography (eluent: dichloromethane/methanol, 30:1, v/v) to give an off-white solid product (3.3 g, 44.4% yield).