Sodium Cyanide → (4-tert-Butylphenyl)acetonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

Sodium cyanide (1.07 g, 22 mmol) was added to a stirred solution of 4-t-butylbenzylbromide (5 g, 22 mmol) in a mixture of EtOH--H2O (6:1) (70 mL). The reaction mixture was allowed to stir under reflux conditions for 4 hours. After cooling the mixture to room temperature, the solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure to afford a yellow oil. The oil was suspended in water (20 mL) and extracted with ether (3×25 mL). The solvent was removed under reduced pressure to give a yellow oil which was purified by distillation (Kugelrohr, bp 120-125° C., 0.2 mm Hg) to afford 3.37 g (89%) of the title compound as a colorless oil.

Provenance & Evidence