• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.337-339
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• 2014

A facile one-pot synthesis of p-aminobenzoic acid from methyl 4-formylbenzoate which is a main by product in dimethyl terephthalate production process has been developed. This process involves the formation of amide intermediate obtained from the reaction of an aldehyde in methyl 4-formylbenzoate with chlorine in methylene chloride and the subsequent treatment of acid chloride with ammonia. The resulting amide was converted into amine using Hofmann degradation to afford a p-aminobenzoic acid. This facile one-pot process does not involve any expensive materials and should offer an attractive alternative to p-aminobenzoic acid production.