• Clean Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.269-273
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• 2016

The benzylic bromination of methoxyimino-o-tolyl-acetic acid methyl ester (1) into (2-bromomethyl-phenyl)-methoxyimino-acetic acid methyl ester (2) using N-bromosuccinimide in the presence of 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile in various reaction solvents were investigated. The efficiency of the reaction was found to be sensitive to the kind of reaction solvents. We found the benzylic bromination of 1 to 2 can be performed in 1,2-dichlorobenzene as reaction solvent superior to the classic Wohl-Ziegler procedure in both reaction time and isolated yield (8 h vs 12 h, 92 vs 79%). This system provides clean, rapid, and high-yielding reactions with replacement of conventional solvents, such as tetrachloromethane, by less-toxic 1,2-dichlorobenzene.