Reaction Steps
3-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)-3 -(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)acrylonitrile was prepared analogously to methyl 3,3-bis-(3′,4′-dimethoxyphenyl)acrylate using 1-(3,4-dimethoxy-benzoyl)-3,4-methylenedioxybenzene (1.43 g, 5 mmol), diethylcyanomethylphosphonate (0.91 mL, 5.5 mmol) and lithium hexamethyldisilazide (4.2 mL, 5.5 mmol, 1.3 M) with a reaction time of 1 hour at reflux and 24 hours at room temperature. The crude product was purified by chromatography (silica gel, 2% ethyl acetate/methylene chloride) to afford 0.79 g (51%) of a mixture of the E and Z isomers as an off white solid: mp 121-123° C.; 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ 7.10-6.73 (m, 12 H), 6.13-5.94 (m, 4 H), 5.57 (s, 1 H), 5.53 (s, 1 H), 3.94 (s, 3 H), 3.92 (s, 3 H), 3.87 (s, 3 H), 3.84 (s, 3 H); 13C NMR (CDCl3) δ 162.3, 151.0, 150.5, 149.6, 149.1, 148.8, 148.5, 147.9, 133.2, 131.6, 130.8, 129.4, 124.3, 123.5, 123.1, 122.1, 118.5, 118.3, 112.6, 111.1, 110.7, 109.9, 108.5, 108.2, 101.6, 101.5, 92.2, 92.2, 56.0, 55.9, 55.9; Anal. Calcd for C18H15NO4. Theoretical: C, 69.89; H, 4.89; N, 4.53. Found: C, 69.61; H, 5.01; N, 4.37.
