Thioxanthone → 9H-Thioxanthene-9-carbonitrile

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A suspension of 9H-Thioxanthen-9-ol [32] (2.14 g, 9.98 mmol) in anhydrous Et2O (20 mL) under N2 and SOCl2 (0.8 mL, 11.48 mmol) was added with caution via syringe with stirring at 0-5° C. The alcohol dissolved before a white solid began to separate. After stirring (1 hr.) at room temperature, the solvent was removed under reduced pressure and C6H6 (10 mL) was added and solvent removed to dryness again. All manipulations were performed with rigorous exclusion of air. Anhydrous C6H6 (20 mL) and CuCN powder (1.79 g, 19.97 mmol) were added and the suspension was stirred at reflux (4 hr.).The reaction mixture was filtered while hot and the residue was washed with hot C6H6 (50 mL). The filterate was evaporated to give a crystalline residue containing thioxanthene and thioxanthen-9-one as well as the desired nitrile. One recrystallizations from hexane removed thioxanthene and one recrystallizations from 2-propanol removed most of the thioxanthen-9one to provide 1.3 g (59%) of the pure nitrile, mp. 97-98° C.

Provenance & Evidence