GENERAL STEPS: To a stirred solution of 2,6-dichloro-4-nitrophenol (6.0 g, 28.84 mmol) in anhydrous DMF (60 mL) was added anhydrous K2CO3 (15.9 g, 115.36 mmol) and iodomethane (8.18 g, 57.69 mmol). The reaction mixture was stirred at 0°C and then gradually warmed up to 60°C and kept for 6 hours. After completion of the reaction, the mixture was cooled to room temperature and slowly poured into ice water to quench the reaction. The precipitated solid was collected by filtration and dried under vacuum to obtain the crude product. The crude product was purified by column chromatography using petroleum ether: ethyl acetate (85:15) as eluent to give 2.5 g (39.0% yield) of 1,3-dichloro-2-methoxy-5-nitrobenzene as an off-white solid. The structure of the product was confirmed by 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 8.22 (s, 2H), 4.01 (s, 3H).
