Water → N-methyl-1-(1-methyl-1H-indol-4-yl)methanamine

Participants

Reaction Steps

1-Methyl-1H-indole-4-carbaldehyde (427 mg, 2.68 mmol) was dissolved in anhydrous methanol (12 mL). Methylamine (1.07 mL of 33% solution in ethanol, 8.59 mmol) was added and the reaction was stirred for 3 h. The solution was concentrated to a yellow oil and then dissolved in anhydrous methanol (12 mL). Sodium borohydride (104 mg, 2.74 mmol) was added and the mixture was stirred overnight at room temperature. Water (10 mL) was added and the solution was concentrated. Sodium hydroxide (20 mL, 1N) was added and the aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate (3×30 mL). Combined organic layers were dried over Na2SO4, filtered and concentrated to afford N-methyl(1-methyl-1H-indol-4-yl)methanamine (432 mg, 92%) as a yellow oil: 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ 7.29-7.26 (m, 2H), 7.10-7.06 (m, 1H), 7.00-6.98 (m, 1H), 6.51 (d, J=3.2 Hz, 1H), 3.87 (s, 2H), 3.76 (s, 3H), 2.29 (s, 3H).

Provenance & Evidence