Potassium Cyanide → Methyl 5-cyanopentanoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Potassium Cyanide (4 g, 61.44 mmol) is dissolved in 70 mL water and 200 mL methanol. To the solution 10 g (51.2 mmol) of methyl 5-bromopentanoate is added and the mixture is refluxed overnight. The reaction mixture is concentrated to dryness. To the residue, 100 mL of EtOAc is added to extract the product. The organic is washed with water three times, dried and concentrated to yield 5.37 g (74%) of methyl 5-cyanopentanoate as an oil.

Provenance & Evidence