Sodium Cyanide → 2,2-Difluoro-1,3-benzodioxole-5-acetonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of crude 5-chloromethyl-2,2-difluoro-benzo[1,3]dioxole (4.4 g) and sodium cyanide (1.36 g, 27.8 mmol) in dimethylsulfoxide (50 mL) was stirred at room temperature overnight. The reaction mixture was poured into ice and extracted with ethyl acetate (300 mL). The combined organic layers were dried over sodium sulfate and evaporated to dryness to give crude (2,2-difluoro-benzo[1,3]dioxol-5-yl)-acetonitrile (3.3 g) which was used directly in the next step.

Provenance & Evidence