Benzophenone → 3,3-Diphenylacrylonitrile
Reaction equation
[C:1]([C:9]1[CH:14]=[CH:13][CH:12]=[CH:11][CH:10]=1)(=O)[C:2]1[CH:7]=[CH:6][CH:5]=[CH:4][CH:3]=1.[OH-].[K+].[C:17](#[N:19])[CH3:18]>>[C:2]1([C:1]([C:9]2[CH:14]=[CH:13][CH:12]=[CH:11][CH:10]=2)=[CH:18][C:17]#[N:19])[CH:7]=[CH:6][CH:5]=[CH:4][CH:3]=1Participants
4
Procedure
To a solution of benzophenone (9.1 g, 50 mmol) in acetonitrile (20 mL) was added potassium hydroxide (3.3 g, 50 mmol) in acetonitrile (25 mL). The solution was refluxed for 8 hours. The hot reaction mixture was poured into 100 g crushed ice and then extracted with dichloromethane. The organic extract was washed with water, dried over sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo. The crude material was purified by flash column chromatography (diethyl ether/hexanes) to give 3,3-diphenylacrylonitrile (7.7 g, 73.3%) as an oil.