Trimethylammonium acetic acid betain (1) reacts with phenacyl bromide and ethyl bromoacetate, respectively, to give the ester bromides2and7. These can be hydrolyzed with aqueous sodium hydrogencarbonate at 20 °C to yield besides1both C-benzoyl-methanol (3) and the glycolic acid ester8, respectively. The reaction can also be performed in one step by reacting the betain (1) (which can act as a base) in a double molar ratio with the active halide
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