Sodium Cyanide → 2-(3,5-Dichlorophenyl)acetonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

3,5-Dichlorobenzyl chloride (315.6 mg, 1.615 mmol), 0.2 molar in DMSO, was treated with sodium cyanide (158.2 mg, 3.229 mmol) and allowed to stir at ambient temperature for 24 hours. After 24 hours the reaction mixture was diluted with diethyl ether and partitioned between saturated aqueous sodium chloride. The organic layer was dried with magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated to provide the title compound (155.5 mg, 0.836 mmol, 51.8% yield) as a dark red oil.

Provenance & Evidence