GENERAL STEPS: Potassium carbonate (K2CO3, 5.27 g, 38.1 mmol) was added to a solution of 2-fluoro-5-nitrophenol (5.0 g, 31.84 mmol) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF, 50 mL), and the mixture was stirred for 15 minutes at room temperature. Subsequently, iodomethane (3 mL, 47.7 mmol) was added and the reaction mixture continued to be stirred for 2 hours at room temperature. Upon completion of the reaction, the mixture was poured into ice water and the solid product was isolated by filtration. The solid was washed well with deionized water and subsequently dried under vacuum to afford the off-white solid product 2-fluoro-5-nitroanisole (4.0 g, 73.5% yield). The structure of the product was confirmed by 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3): δ 7.89-7.84 (m, 2H), 7.25-7.17 (m, 1H), 3.98 (s, 3H).
