2,5-Dibromopyridine → 5-Bromopyridine-2-carbonitrile

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Reaction Steps

2,5-Dibromopyridine (20.0 g, 84.4 mmol) was dissolved in dimethylformamide (422 mL). To the stirred solution was added copper(I) cyanide. After refluxing for 5 h, the mixture was cooled to room temperature and stored overnight. The reaction mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate (1200 mL) and filtered through a Buchner funnel containing sand, Celite, and silica gel layers. The filtrate was concentrated to a volume of 400 mL. This organic liquid was diluted with water (300 mL) and the resulting liquid was extracted with ethyl acetate (2×200 mL). The organic extracts were combined, washed with water (2×300 mL) and brine (1×250 mL), and dried over magnesium sulfate. After concentration, the product was purified via silica gel chromatography (50:50 ethyl acetate/CH2Cl2) to afford the title compound (9.79 g).

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