Ammonia → 4-Methyl-3-cyanopyridine

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Reaction Steps

3-Bromo-4-methylpyridine (20.0 g, 116 mmol) is dissolved in DMF (100 ml), and thereto is added cuprous cyanide (11.6 g, 30 mmol), and the mixture is heated under reflux for 18 hours. After cooling, a 25% aqueous ammonia (200 ml) and a saturated aqueous ammonium chloride solution (200 ml) are added to the reaction solution, and the mixture is extracted with ethyl acetate (200 ml×5). The organic layer is washed with a saturated brine (100 ml), dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue is purified by silica gel column chromatography (eluent: ethyl acetate/hexane) to give the title compound (11.0 g) as colorless crystals, m.p. 75-78° C.

Provenance & Evidence