Reaction Steps
3-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(4-methylphenyl)acrylonitrile was prepared analogously to methyl 3,3-bis-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)acrylate using 3,4-dimethoxy-4′-methylbenzophenone (2.3 g, 9 mmol), diethylcyanomethylphosphonate (1.8 mL, 9.9 mmol) and lithium hexamethyldisilazide (10 mL, 9.9 mmol, 1M) with a reaction time of 22 hours at room temperature. The crude product was purified by chromatography (silica gel, 1% ethyl acetate/methylene chloride) to afford 1.83 g (73%) of a mixture of the E and Z isomers as a white solid: mp 83.5-86.5° C.; 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ7.35-7.20 (m, 8 H), 7.04-6.81 (m, 6 H), 5.62 (s, 1 H), 5.59 (s, 1 H), 3.90 (s, 3 H), 3.90 (s, 3 H), 3.88 (s, 3 H), 3.82 (s, 3 H), 2.41 (s, 3 H), 2.39 (s, 3 H); 13C NMR (CDCl3) δ162.7, 162.6, 160.0, 150.4, 148.8, 148.5, 140.6, 140.1, 136.3, 134.1, 131.6, 129.5, 129.2, 129.0, 128.5, 123.0, 122.1, 118.4, 118.3, 112.6, 111.1, 110.7, 92.6, 92.4, 55.9, 55.9, 55.8, 21.3, 21.2; Anal. Calcd for C18H17NO2. Theoretical: C, 77.40; H, 6.13; N, 5.01. Found: C, 77.64; H, 5.93; N, 5.01.
