| Abstract: | By a combination of hydrolysis, decarboxylation, and methylation diethyl 1-methyl-3-hydroxy-5-phenylpyrrole-2,4-dicarboxylate was converted into 1-methyl-3-methoxy-5-phenyl-pyrrole-2,4-dicarboxylic acid (5) and into the isomeric compounds ethyl 1-methyl-2-phenyl-4-methoxypyrrole-3-carboxylate (4a) and ethyl 1-methyl-3-methoxy-5-phenylpyrrole-2-carboxylate (9a). 1-Methyl-2-phenyl-4-methoxypyrrole-3-carboxylic acid was synthesized both by the selective decarboxylation of 5 and by the hydrolysis of 4a. Hydrolysis of 9a, however, did not give the corresponding acid, but rather an oxidation product, 1-methyl-3-methoxy-5-hydroxy-5-phenyl-3-pyrrolin-2-onc (10a). Compound 10a was shown to arise from the air oxidation of the completely decarboxylated product, 1-methyl-2-phenyl-4-methoxypyrrole. Reduction of 9a with lithium aluminum hydride gave 1-methyl-3-methoxy-5-phenylpyrrole-2-methanol, which yielded 10a upon oxidation with silver oxide. |
