Ethyl cyanoacetate → 4-(Cyanoacetyl)morpholine

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A 4-neck 500 mL flask was charged with morpholine (77.0 g, 0.088 mol). Ethylcyanoacetate (100.0 g, 0.088 mol) was added. After addition, the reaction mixture was stirred. The mixture progressively turned yellow to clear. The mixture was heated to 100 to 110° C. for 3.0 hours. A solid formed after cooling to room temperature. Ethyl acetate (150 ml) and heptanes (300 ml) were added and the mixture stirred for 30 minutes at room temperature. The solid was filtered to give 95.2 g (71% yield) of 4-cyanoacetylmorpholine. 1H NMR: δ (DMSO-d6) 4.02 (s, 2H); 3.37 (m, 2H); 3.55 (m, 4H); 3.45 (m, 2H).

Provenance & Evidence