Water → Bis[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl](phenyl)acetonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

Commercially obtained Malachite Green, oxalate salt (4.644 g) and sodium cyanide (2.456 g) were combined, followed by addition of water (150 mL) and diethyl ether (150 mL). The mixture was rapidly stirred for three hours, at which point the green color had faded, and the mixture was a muddy brown. The mixture was transferred to a separatory funnel with the aid of ethyl acetate, partitioned, and the aqueous phase extracted with three portions of ethyl acetate (100 mL each). The combined organics were washed once with brine (50 mL), dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated by rotary evaporation to provide crude nitrile 3A contaminated by some of the triarylcarbinol.

Provenance & Evidence