To a mixture of 1-(1-imidazol-2-yl)ethan-1-one 13 (75 mg, 0.68 mmol, 1.0 eq.) and potassium carbonate (235 mg, 1.7 mmol, 2.5 eq.) was added methyl iodide (47 L, 0.7 mmol, 1.1 eq.) and anhydrous acetonitrile (1.0 mL) under nitrogen. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight and monitored by TLC (1.0% methanol/DCM). Acetonitrile was removed on a rotary evaporator and the residue was treated with water (5.0 mL) and extracted with DCM (3 x 5.0 mL). The combined organic extracts were dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated on a rotary evaporator to give a brown oil. This was chromatographically separated on silica gel in 0.5-1 methanol/DCM to give 1-(1-methyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)ethanone as a clarified oil (22 mg, 26%).
