67-56-1

19719-28-9

55954-23-9

General procedure for the synthesis of methyl 2,4-dichlorophenylacetate from methanol and 2,4-dichlorophenylacetic acid: to a solution of 2,4-dichlorophenylacetic acid (3.5 g, 17.1 mmol) in methanol (100 mL) was slowly added concentrated sulfuric acid (20 drops). The reaction mixture was heated to reflux for 12 hours. Upon completion of the reaction, the solvent was removed by rotary evaporator under reduced pressure. The residue was diluted with cold water (50 mL) and extracted with ethyl acetate (3 x 50 mL). The organic layers were combined and washed sequentially with saturated sodium bicarbonate solution (50 mL) and saturated saline (50 mL), then dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate and filtered. The solvent was again removed by rotary evaporator under reduced pressure to obtain the crude product. The crude product was purified by silica gel column chromatography (eluent ratio 4:1 hexane/ethyl acetate) to afford methyl 2,4-dichlorophenylacetate (3.56 g, 95% yield) as a clear oil. The structure of the product was confirmed by 1H NMR (DMSO-d6): δ 7.40 (s, 1H), 7.22 (d, J=1.5 Hz, 2H), 3.74 (s, 2H), 3.71 (s, 3H).