Sodium Hydroxide → 2-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-2-trifluoromethylpropionitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

Trimethylsilyl cyanide (65.1 ml; 423 mmol) was added at room temperature to 1-chloro-1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1-trifluoromethylethane (77.6 g; 335.5 mmol) in methylene chloride (975 ml) followed by titanium tetrachloride (32.5 ml; 3.25 mmol). After stirring for 20 hours at room temparature, 2N sodium hydroxide was added carefully, dropwise, until the mixture was neutral and the precipitate separated over celite. The aqueous phase was extracted with ethyl acetate and the extract dried over sodium suphate. After concentrating, there was obtained 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-trifluoromethylpropionitrile (71.49 g=90% of theory).

Provenance & Evidence