Potassium Cyanide → 5-Cyanoethyl-2-oxindole

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

Potassium cyanide (2.0 g) was added to 15 ml of dimethylsulfoxide and heated to 90° C. 5-chloroethyl-2-oxindole (3.0 g) dissolved in 5 ml of dimethylsulfoxide was added slowly with stirring, and the reaction was heated to 150° C. and stirred for 2 hours. The mixture was cooled, poured into ice water and the precipitate which formed was collected by vacuum filtration, washed with water, and dried to give crude product. The crude material was chromatographed on silica gel (5% methanol in chloroform) to give 1.2 g (42%) of 5-cyanoethyl-2-oxindole.

Provenance & Evidence