Methanol → 2-(Hydroxymethyl)adamantane-2-carbonitrile

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Reaction Steps

To a solution of methyl 2-cyanoadamantane-2-carboxylate (1.33 g, 6.07 mmol) in anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (50 mL) was added anhydrous methanol (0.49 mL, 12 mmol) and lithium borohydride (4.0 M solution in tetrahydrofuran, 3.0 mL, 12 mmol). The mixture was heated to reflux under a nitrogen atmosphere for 7 hours, cooled to ambient temperature and quenched with careful addition of saturated aqueous ammonium chloride (10 mL). The mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate (200 mL), washed with a 3:1 mixture of saturated aqueous ammonium chloride and water (2×200 mL), dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo to afford the title compound (1.06 g, 91%) as a colorless solid: 1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3) δ 3.92 (s, 2H), 2.24-2.20 (m, 2H), 2.10-1.97 (m, 4H), 1.86-1.84 (m, 5H), 1.73-1.64 (m, 4H); MS (ES−) m/z 192.2 (M+1).

Provenance & Evidence