Water → ethyl 1-(cyanomethyl)-1H-indole-2-carboxylate

Participants

Reaction Steps

Ethyl indole-2-carboxylate (6.0 g) was dissolved in dimethylformamide (60 ml) and sodium hydride (60% in oil, 1.4 g) was added under ice-cooling. After stirring for 30 minutes, bromoacetonitrile (2.3 ml) was added and the mixture was stirred. Water was added to the reaction mixture, and the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract was washed with saturated brine and dried over magnesium sulfate. The solvent was evaporated, and the residue was recrystallized from ethyl acetate to give 6.6 g of ethyl 1-cyanomethylindole-2-carboxylate.

Provenance & Evidence