Sodium hydride → 2-Methoxy-4-(oxiran-2-yl)benzonitrile

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

To a cool solution of NaH (0.16 g, 3.9 mmol) in THF (40 ml) was added dropwise a solution of trimethylsulfonium iodide (0.91 g, 4.5 mmol) in DMSO (20 ml). The resulting mixture was stirred at 0° C. under N2 for 20 min. The solution of 4-formyl-2-methoxybenzonitrile (0.60 g, 3.7 mmol) in THF (20 ml) was added. The resulting reaction mixture was stirred at 0° C. under N2 for 1 hr, and then it was warmed gradually to room temperature and stirred at that temperature for 12 hr. The starting material was consumed as indicated by TLC (25% ethyl acetate/hexanes). The reaction mixture was cooled to 0° C. and quenched by drop-wise addition of water. The mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate (2×70 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with water, brine, then dried (MgSO4) and filtered. The filtrate was concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified via column chromatography (silica gel, 10-30% EtOAc-hexanes) to afford 2-methoxy-4-(oxiran-2-yl)benzonitrile. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 500 MHz) δ 7.57 (d, J=8 Hz, 1H), 6.99 (dd, J=1.1 Hz, J=1.2 Hz, 1H), 6.89 (s, 1H), 3.97 (s, 3H), 3.94-3.92 (m, 1H), 3.22 (dd, J=5.2, Hz, J=4.1 Hz, 1H), 2.77 (J=2.5 Hz, 1H); LC/MS (IE, m/z) 176.33 [M+1]+; tR=2.55 min.

Provenance & Evidence