Potassium Cyanide → 4-Iodophenylacetonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of potassium cyanide (33.23 g, Sigma-Aldrich) and 4-iodobenzyl bromide (101 g, Apollo Scientific) in 3:1 IMS/water (1 L) was heated to reflux for 2 hours then cooled to room temperature. The organics were removed in vacuo and the aqueous was extracted with EtOAc (2×750 mL). The combined organics were washed with brine (300 mL), dried (magnesium sulphate) and concentrated in vacuo to give the product as oil that solidified on standing. Yield: 78.4 g. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 7.71 (2H, d, ArH), 7.08 (2H, d, ArH) 3.66 (2H, s, ArCH2CN).

Provenance & Evidence