Lithium borohydride → 3-(Hydroxymethyl)benzonitrile

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Reaction Steps

To a stirred, room temperature solution of the ester from above (2.05 g, 4.6 mmol) in MeOH (50 mL) was added LiBH4 (1.0 g, 50 mmol) in three portions. Effervescence was observed, and the mixture was stirred for 3.5 hours. The mixture was concentrated and 1 N NaOH (50 mL) was added to the resultant residue. The aqueous mixture was extracted with CH2Cl2 (3×50 mL). The organic extracts were combined, dried (Na2SO4), and concentrated. Purification of the crude material by column chromatography on silica gel (40 g, eluted with 5% NH4OH/5% MeOH/CH2Cl2) provided 4-3,3″-dimethyl-3′,4′,5′,6′-tetrahydro-2′H-[2,2′;6′,2″]terpyridin-1′-ylmethyl)-3-hydroxymethyl-benzonitrile (1.63 g, 86%) as a pale yellow solid.

Provenance & Evidence