Acetic Acid → 2-[1-(4-Nitrophenyl)ethylidene]malononitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethanone (15 g, 90.8 mmol), malononitrile (6 g, 90.8 mmol), ammonium acetate (7 g, 90.8 mmol) and acetic acid (10 mL) in benzene (200 mL) was stirred at reflux overnight in a flask equipped with a Dean-Stark trap. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, poured into water, and extracted three times with ethyl acetate. The combined organic extracts were washed with water and brine, dried (MgSO4), filtered, and concentrated. The residue was purified by silica gel chromatography eluting with 25% ethyl acetate/hexanes to provide 9.42 g of the desired product. Rf=0.33 (25% ethyl acetate/hexanes).

Provenance & Evidence