3-(4-Methylbenzoyl)propionic acid

108-30-5

108-88-3

4619-20-9

The general procedure for the synthesis of 3-(4-methylbenzoyl)propionic acid from succinic anhydride and toluene was as follows: 75.7 g of succinic anhydride was dissolved in 457.5 mL of toluene. Under stirring, 220.5 g of anhydrous aluminum trichloride (AlCl3) was added in batches. The temperature of the reaction mixture was maintained in the range of 50-60 °C. After 2 hours of reaction, the completion of the reaction was monitored by thin layer chromatography (TLC). The reaction mixture was slowly added dropwise to 1250 mL of 1 mol/L ice hydrochloric acid under vigorous stirring. During the dropwise addition, milky solids were gradually precipitated. After completion of the dropwise addition, the mixture was continued to be stirred for 0.5 h, followed by filtration. The filter cake was washed sequentially with toluene and ice water and then pumped with 50 mL of ethyl acetate. The resulting solution was slowly added to 500 mL of petroleum ether to induce crystallization. After stirring for 0.5 h, the crystals were collected by filtration and dried at 40 °C for 2 h to give 144 g of Compound II (intermediate) in 99.3% yield. [Compound II intermediate] was a white solid.