Water → 1-Benzylisatin

Participants

Reaction Steps

Prepared according to literature procedure (C. Martin and E. M. Carreira, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127, 11505-11515). A stirred solution of isatin (10.0 g, 68 mmol) in dry DMF (125 mL) was cooled in an ice bath before addition of sodium hydride (60 wt % in mineral oil, 2.86 g, 71.5 mmol) in 10 portions, the orange solution turning quickly purple. When no further evolution of gas was observed, benzyl bromide (13.4 g, 78.0 mmol) was added by syringe. A colour change back to orange was observed within 20 min. Water (300 mL) was added with stirring, and the resulting orange-red precipitate collected by filtration and washed with water and a little cold ethanol. The solid was then recrystallized from boiling ethanol (300 mL) to afford N-benzylisatin (13.7 g, 85%) as long, red needles.

Provenance & Evidence