Water → 2-(4-Bromo-2-methylphenyl)acetonitrile

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a solution of 4-bromo-1-bromomethyl-2-methyl-benzene (3.96 g, 15 mmol) dissolved in DMF (16 mL) were added sodium cyanide (0.85 g, 17.25 mmol) and water (1.8 mL). The reaction was stirred for overnight at room temperature. To the reaction was added 100 mL water; 80 mL saturated NaHCO3, and 100 mL EtOAc. The layers were separated, and the aqueous layer was extracted with 3×100 mL EtOAc. The combined organics were washed with 100 mL water, and then dried over Na2SO4. After filtering off the solids, the mother liquor was concentrated to the desired product by rotary evaporation (2.92 g, 92.7% yield). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): δ 2.32 (2 H, s), 3.62 (1 H, s), 7.20–7.27 (1 H, m), 7.32–7.41 (1 H, m).

Provenance & Evidence