Ethanol → Adamantane-2-carbonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a solution of 2-adamantanone (6.24 g, 41.50 mmol) in anhydrous 1,2-dimethoxyethane (150 mL) was added anhydrous ethanol (3.6 mL, 61.00 mmol) and p-toluenesulfonylmethyl isocyanide (10.0 g, 51.50 mmol) at 0° C. Potassium tert-butoxide (7.03 g, 62.70 mmol) was added in portions over 35 minutes under nitrogen atmosphere. The reaction mixture was stirred for 3.5 hours at ambient temperature. The mixture was filtered through a pad of diatomaceous earth that was washed with ethyl acetate (200 mL). The filtrate was washed with brine (2×200 mL), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo to dryness. The residue was purified by column chromatography with a gradient of 0-10% ethyl acetate in hexanes to afford the title compound (5.16 g, 77% yield) as a colorless solid: 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3) δ 2.88 (s, 1H), 2.15-2.11 (m, 4H), 1.92-1.85 (m, 4H), 1.75-1.70 (m, 6H); MS (ES−) m/z 162.2 (M+1).

Provenance & Evidence