A stirred mixture of potassium cyanide (0.4 g, 6.1 mmol), 1-(8-bromooctyl)-3,4,5-triphenyl-1H-pyrazole (2.70 g, 5.5 mmol) and DMF (30 mL was heated at 70° C. under an atmosphere of nitrogen. After 58 hours, the reaction mixture was diluted with water and extracted with dichloromethane (3×). The combined extracts were washed with water, saturated sodium chloride solution, dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated to leave an oil. Chromatography on a column of silica gel using a mixture ethyl acetate, hexane and triethylamine (20:79:1) as eluent gave 3,4,5-triphenyl-1H-pyrazole-1-nonanenitrile hemihydrate (1.27 g, 52%) as a beige solid. An analytical sample, recrystallized from a mixture of dichloromethane and hexane, had m.p.=79.5°-80.5° C. MS(CI): m/e=434 (MH+).
