Sodium borohydride → [(1,2-dimethyl-1H-indol-3-yl)methyl](methyl)amine

Participants

Reaction Steps

1,2-Dimethyl-3-(methyliminomethyl)-1H-indole was taken up in ethanol (200 mL) and NaBH4 (2.6 g, 68.7 mmole) was added portionwise with stirring at RT (vigorous gas evolution). After 16 h the reaction was concentrated under vacuum, and the residue was basified with aqueous 1.0 N NaOH (200 mL). The mixture was extracted with Et2O (250 mL), and the combined Et2O extracts were washed with brine, dried (Na2SO4) and concentrated. Purification by flash chromatography on silica gel (5-10% (5% NH4OH/MeOH)/CHCl3) gave the title compound (8.47 g, 68%) as an oil which solidified in the freezer 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.60 (d, J=7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.29 (d, J=8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.19 (t, 1H), 7.12 (t, 1H), 3.93 (s, 2H), 3.69 (s, 3H), 2.49 (s, 3H), 2.45 (s, 3H).

Provenance & Evidence