Potassium Cyanide → 2-(4-Chloro-3-fluorophenyl)acetonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

KCN (1.25 g, 19.2 mmol) was added to a solution of 4-(bromomethyl)-1-chloro-2-fluorobenzene (3.90 g, 17.5 mmol) in DMSO (60 mL). Several milliliters of H2O were added to help dissolve the KCN. After 1 hour, the reaction mixture was diluted with H2O and extracted with EtOAc. The extracts were dried (Na2SO4), filtered, and concentrated. The crude product was flashed on silica (Biotage 40M, 9:1 to 4:1 hex:EtOAc) to give 2-(4-chloro-3-fluorophenyl)acetonitrile (1.81 g, 61.2% yield) as a yellow crystalline solid.

Provenance & Evidence