Nitric Acid → 5-Hydroxy-2-methyl-4-nitrobenzonitrile

Reaction equation

[OH:1][C:2]1[CH:3]=[CH:4][C:5]([CH3:10])=[C:6]([CH:9]=1)[C:7]#[N:8].[N+:11]([O-])([OH:13])=[O:12].O>C(Cl)Cl>[OH:1][C:2]1[C:3]([N+:11]([O-:13])=[O:12])=[CH:4][C:5]([CH3:10])=[C:6]([CH:9]=1)[C:7]#[N:8]

Participants

Procedure

5-Hydroxy-2-methylbenzonitrile (D90, 475 mg, 3.57 mmol) was dissolved in DCM (5 mL) and 70% nitric acid (1 mL, 22 mmol) was added dropwise to the reaction. The mixture was stirred for 45 min before the addition of H2O (15 mL). The two phases were separated and the aqueous phase was extracted with DCM (2×). The combined organics were dried (Na2SO4) and concentrated by rotary evaporation to give a yellow solid. The crude residues were purified by flash column chromatography (silica, 10% EtOAc/90% iso-hexane to 50% EtOAc/50% iso-hexane) to give 5-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-nitrobenzonitrile (D91, 186 mg, 26%) as a yellow solid.