"50 g of 2-hydroxy-5-methoxybenzaldehyde, 68 g of potassium carbonate and 50 g of dimethyl sulfate were refluxed in 250 mL of acetone for about 3 hours under stirring. After the reaction, the reaction mixture was filtered and the acetone was distilled off from the filtrate and then the residue was poured into 300 mL of water. "
Here it is, all wonderfully laid out recipe-style and still I fucked it up
Now I'm hoping that someone can suggest reasons for how I managed to inflict serious damage on my ego as a bee.
This is my story:
1. Dried acetone with MgSO
4. Not that I thought it was necessary, just thought I had nothing to lose and maybe something to gain.
2. Didn't have any K
2CO
3. So I bubbled CO
2 through a warm KOH soln for about 2 hrs and evaporated the water, leaving, I believe, K
2CO
3.3/2H
2O. Later, I left the white powder in the oven at ~150°C to drive off the water.
3. Mixed the aldehyde, acetone and anhydrous K
2CO
3, which didn't dissolve, surprise, surprise. But still, it was a surprise.
4. Added DMS and refluxed for 3 hrs, all the while K
2CO
3 remaining undissolved and looking suspiciously inert.
5. Filtered and boiled off acetone. Dumped residue in water. Crystals did not precipitate. Instead there was a viscous black oil that sank to the bottom and never even solidified on cooling to rt.
Any ideas where I went wrong ?