Potassium Cyanide → Methyl 3-(cyanomethyl)benzoate

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of methyl 3-(bromomethyl)benzoate (0.6 gram, 2.6 mmol), potassium cyanide (0.35 gram, 5.2 mmol) and 60 mg of 18-crown-6 in 6 ml acetonitrile was vigorously stirred at room temperature for 24 hours. The mixture was filtered, the filtrate concentrated to half volume, water was added to the remaining mixture and extraction was performed with dichloromethane. The organic phase was dried over MgSO4 and the solvent was evaporated, to give the product as a yellow liquid, which was used without purification.

Provenance & Evidence