Sodium Cyanide → Methyl 4-(cyanomethyl)benzoate

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Reaction Steps

A mixture of methyl 4-(bromomethyl)benzoate (10.09 g, 44.05 mmol), sodium cyanide (6.42 g, 131 mmol) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (1.59 g, 4.36 mmol) in benzene/water (2:1, 187.5 mL) was heated at reflux for 5 h then extracted with CH2Cl2 3×50 mL). The organic extracts were dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. Purification of the crude material by chromatography on silica gel (35% EtOAc/hexanes) gave 4-cyanomethyl-benzoic acid methyl ester as a colourless solid (4.64 g, 60%). 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ 3.82 (s, 2H), 3.93 (s, 3H), 7.42 (d, 2H, J=9 Hz), 8.06 (d, 2H, J=9 Hz).

Provenance & Evidence