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Updated: May 29, 2025

Synthesis of Esters Via a Greener Steglich Esterification in Acetonitrile
Published on: October 30, 2018
Acid/halide co-mediated transesterification of unactivated carboxylic esters with O-H nucleophiles
Dongxu Zuo1, Chenglong Li1, Qiang Wu1
1School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China. hainanliulong@hainanu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The transesterification of unactivated carboxylic esters with alcohols was achieved in one pot through acid/halide cooperative catalysis. By this strategy, various weakly nucleophilic phenols could react with unactivated methyl esters to produce the corresponding phenolic esters in good to high yields. Aliphatic alcohols could also be used as the nucleophiles and showed higher reactivity. Moreover, high functional group tolerance has been demonstrated. This reaction is also applicable to the late-stage modification of clinical drug derivatives. These results clearly show the potential synthetic value of this new reaction in organic synthesis.
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