ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Practical synthesis of 2,3-dimethoxy-5-hydroxymethyl-6-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone

Jin Wang, Shuo Li, Tao Yang, Jin-Rong Zeng, and Jian Yang

Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, 650224, China

E-mail: woongching@gmail.com

Abstract: 2,3-dimethoxy-5-hydroxymethyl-6-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone (V) was prepared with a 75 % yield by means of a reaction sequence starting from 2,3,4,5-tetramethoxytoluene via Blanc chloromethylation reaction, Kornblum oxidation, NaBH₄ reduction and ceric ammonium nitrate oxidation. The procedure is operationally simple and amenable to gram-scale synthesis.

Keywords: coenzyme Q – idebenone – Kornblum oxidation – ceric ammonium nitrate oxidation

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1515/chempap-2015-0001

Chemical Papers 69 (3) 486–489 (2015)