Ammonia → 2-Amino-3-cyclopropyl-2-methyl-propionitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a round bottom flask equipped with a condenser was added magnesium sulfate (4.33 g, 35.9 mmol), sodium cyanide (3.52 g, 71.9 mmol) and ammonium chloride (1.92 g, 35.9 mmol). The solids were slurried in a 7.0M solution of ammonia in methanol (30.8 ml, 216 mmol) at room temperature. To the resulting suspension was added 1-cyclopropylpropan-2-one (CAN 4160-75-2, 8.3 g, 71.9 mmol) in one portion. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 4 hours. The solvents were removed under reduced pressure. The resulting slurry of the inorganic salts and product were diluted with tert-butylmethylether and solvent removed at reduced pressure. This process was repeated three times before the resulting suspension was filtered to remove the inorganic salts. The filtrate was then evaporated down to dryness to yield the crude product (7.9 g, 89%) as a yellow oil. MS (ESI, m/z): 125.3 (M+H+).

Provenance & Evidence