Phase Transfer Catalysed Synthesis of Methyl α-Bromomethylacrylate

Abstract

Methyl α-bromomethylacrylate 1 is an important intermediate both as a starting material for specifically functionalized polymers and for use in general organic synthesis. As an example of the former it has been used to prepare polymeric anthraquinoid dyes¹. Synthetically, its bifunctional reactivity towards nucleophilic attack has made it useful in the preparation of both spiro² and bicyclic^3,4 ring systems. Several reports of synthetic methods leading to α-methylenelactones, having potential antitumor activity, have also been reported which use α-bromomethylacrylate as a starting point⁵.