Acetonitrile → 4,4,4-Trifluoro-3-oxobutanenitrile

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

To a stirred suspension of 60% NaH (33.80 g, 1.408 mol, 2 eq) in dioxane (700 mL) was added acetonitrile (44.3 mL, 0.845 mol, 1.2 eq.) at 0° C. over a period of 30 min followed ethyl trifluoroacetate (83.70 mL, 0.704 mol, 1.0 eq). The reaction mixture was slowly and carefully heated to 100° C. for 3 h. The dioxane was evaporated under reduced pressure and pH was adjusted to ˜6 with 1N HCl and extracted with ether (200 mL×4), dried (MgSO4) and evaporated under vacuum to get 4,4,4-trifluoro-3-oxobutanenitrile (95 g, crude, brown oil). The compound was confirmed by matching with the TLC of reference compound.

Provenance & Evidence