Potassium Cyanide → (4-Bromo-2-chlorophenyl)acetonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

Potassium cyanide (587 g) was dissolved in a mixed solution of water (1408 mL) and dimethyl sulfoxide (767 g), and a solution of 4-bromo-2-chlorobenzyl bromide (512 g) of Reference Example 13 in dimethylsulfoxide (1663 g) was added dropwise at an inside temperature of 90° C. After stirring at the same temperature for 1 hr, the reaction mixture was poured into water. After partitioning and extraction with ethyl acetate, the organic layer was washed 4 times with 25% brine, and dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate. The solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure to give the title compound (383 g) as a brown oil.

Provenance & Evidence