Nitrogen mustard hydrochloride → 1-Methyl-4-(3-nitrophenyl)piperazine

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of N-methylbis(2-chloroethyl)-amine hydrochloride (9.8 g) and 3-nitroaniline (7.0 g) in 1-butanol (100 ml) was heated at reflux for 60 h then cooled to room temperature. Sodium carbonate (2.8 g) was added and the mixture heated at reflux for a further 18 h. The mixture was cooled to 0° C. and filtered. The solid was collected, washed with anhydrous ether then partitioned between dichloromethane (200 ml) and sodium hydroxide solution (1M, 150 ml). The organic layer was separated and the aqueous phase washed once more with dichloromethane (200 ml). The combined organic layers were dried (K2CO3) and evaporated in vacuo. The resultant residue was chromatographed on silica gel, using dichloromethane:methanol (96:4) as the eluant, to afford an orange oil. The oil crystallized on standing and the resultant solid was triturated with petrol (60/80) to give the desired piperazine (5.64 g). 1H NMR (360 MHz, CDCl3) δ 2.37 (3H, s), 2.58 (4H, t, J=5 Hz), 3.30 (4H, t, J=5 Hz), 7.18 (1H, dd, J=9 and 3 Hz), 7.35 (1H, t, J=8 Hz), 7.64 (1H, dd, J=9 and 2 Hz), 7.71 (1H, d, J=2 Hz). MS (CI, NH3) 222 (M+1).

Provenance & Evidence