Methyl 3-bromo-4-methylbenzoate → Methyl 3-cyano-4-methylbenzoate

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A mixture of copper (I) cyanide (510 mg, 5.69 mmol) and DMF (16 mL) was heated to 140° C. The reaction was added methyl 3-bromo-4-methylbenzoate (505 mg, 2.2 mmol) in DMF (10 mL) and heating was continued for 12 h. The reaction was cooled, diluted with EtOAc (125 mL) and washed with H2O (5×25 mL). The EtOAc layer was dried over MgSO4 and concentrated. The residue was chromatographed (40 g silica, 10% EtOAc/hexanes) to give the title compound as a solid (236 mg, 61%); IR(CHCl3): 1128, 1269, 1300, 1725, 2231, 3024 cm−1; NMR(300 MHz, CDCl3): 2.63 (s, 3H); 3.95 (s, 3H); 7.43 (d, 1H, J=8.1 Hz); 8.14 (d, 1H, J=8.1 Hz); 8.28 (s, 1H); MS(FD): 175.1.

Provenance & Evidence