Sodium Cyanide → tert-Butyl N-[3-(cyanomethyl)benzyl]-N-methylcarbamate

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Reaction Steps

tert-Butyl-N-[3-(bromomethyl)benzyl]-N-methylcarbamate (preparation 13) (3.2 g, 10.18 mmol) was dissolved in acetonitrile (50 ml) and treated with sodium cyanide (1.23 g, 25.10 mmol) followed by benzyl triethylammonium bromide (220 mg, 0.8 mmol) and the resultant mixture stirred at room temperature for 4 days. The resultant slurry was diluted with ethyl acetate (200 ml) washed with water, sat aq brine and dried over MgSO4. Removal of the drying agent by filtration followed by evaporation of the solvent gave a pale yellow solid which was purified by chromatography (SiO2, eluting with 100% CH2Cl2) to give the desired product with a trace of impurity (3.0 g). 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ 1.50 (s, 9H), 2.80 (s, b, 3H), 3.75 (s, 2H), 4.40 (s, 2H), 7.20 (m, 3H), 7.35 (t, 1H). LRMS m/z=278.1 (M+18)+.

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