Ammonia → 2-Furanacetonitrile, alpha-amino-

Participants

Reaction Steps

Furfural (1.0 equiv) is mixed with NaCN (1.1 equiv) and NH4Cl (1.1 equiv) in 2 Molar NH3/MeOH (4 equiv NH3). The flask is fitted with a reflux condenser and mixture is refluxed. At the end of each of the first 3 h an additional equivalent of NH3 in MeOH is added. The reaction mixture is cooled and the excess solids are filtered away on a frit. The filtrate is concentrated by rotary evaporation and the residue is triturated with diethyl ether and the mixture is filtered again. The filtrate is concentrated on a rotovap. The product is purified, if necessary, by flash chromatography on silica gel with EtOAc/hexanes as an eluent to yield amino-cyano-(furan-2-yl)methane.

Provenance & Evidence