Nitrogen → 2-Chloro-2-phenylacetonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

150 g of toluene and 7 g (0.02 mol) of Cyanex® 923 are initially introduced into a phosgenation apparatus with attached carbonic acid condenser and heated. At 99° C., 13 g of phosgene are gassed in over the course of 10 minutes. Thereafter, over the course of 2 hours, 192 g (1.44 mol) of benzaldehyde cyanohydrin and a further 149 g (total=172 g or 1.74 mol) of phosgene are added in parallel. The internal temperature is maintained between 99 and 102° C. throughout. After a post-reaction of 60 minutes at 99° C., excess phosgene is stripped out using N2 at 50° C. for 2.5 h. The discharge of 359 g is fractionally distilled on a 30 cm Vigreux column. The main fraction passes over at 0.6 mbar and a head temperature of from 68 to 73° C. 192.7 g (88.3% of theory) of α-chlorophenylacetonitrile are isolated.

Provenance & Evidence