N-bromobutanimide → 5-Bromo-4-methyl-2-oxindole

Participants

Reaction Steps

4-Methyl-2-oxindole (5 g) in 40 mL of acetonitrile was treated with 7.26 g of N-bromosuccinimide and stirred at room temperature for 4 hours. Thin layer chromatography (ethyl acetate:hexane 1:2, silica gel) showed a mixture of 5-bromo (Rf -0.3) and 5,7-dibromo (Rf 0.5) products. Another 7.26 g of N-bromosuccinimide was added and the mixture stirred for 4 additional hours. The solid was collected by vacuum filtration, washed with 20 mL of acetonitrile and dried to give a 1: 1 mixture of mono and dibromo compounds. The filtrate was concentrated and chromatographed on silica gel (ethyl acetate:hexane (1:2)) to give 1.67 g of 5-bromo-4-methyl-2-oxindole as a beige solid. The remaining 1:1 mixture of solids was recrystallized twice from glacial acetic acid to give 3.2 g of 5,7-dibromo-4-methyl-2-oxindole as a light orange solid. The filtrates from this material were chromatographed as above to give 0.6 g of 5-bromo-4-methyl-2-oxindole and 0.5 g of 5,7-dibromo-4-methyl-2-oxindole.

Provenance & Evidence