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Concentrated sulfuric acid (50 mL) was added slowly to a solution of methanol (1200 mL) of m-trifluoromethylphenylacetic acid (1.0 mol). The reaction mixture was heated to reflux and the reaction was stirred overnight. Upon completion of the reaction, the reaction solution was concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure. Water (600 mL) was added to the residue and extracted with ethyl acetate (3 x 400 mL). The organic layers were combined and washed with water until neutral. The organic layer was dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. The crude product was purified by column chromatography (eluent: ethyl acetate/petroleum ether=1:20) to afford methyl 3-trifluoromethylphenylacetate (108 g, 100% yield) as a yellow oil.