Simple and cost-effective synthesis of 5,7,8-deuterium-labelled 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene (TDN-D3)

[Display omitted] •New deuterium-labeled TDN specimen for stable isotope dilution assay (SIDA).•Short synthetic pathway and simple work-up procedures.•Inexpensive and readily available reagents.•>99% Chemical purity was achieved upon standard work-up/isolation procedure (distillation). We report an economical and readily scalable synthesis of 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene-5,7,8-D3 (TDN-D3), a novel deuterium-labeled specimen for stable isotope dilution assay. TDN-D3 was obtained in four simple steps with 25% overall yield and > 99% chemical purity, starting from commercially available and inexpensive reagents. The described method does not require additional purification procedures (e.g. HPLC or even column chromatography), and the complete synthesis can be performed in three part-time working days.