Reaction Steps
(3,5-Dimethoxyphenyl)phenylmethanone (0.34 g, 1.40 mmol), lithium bis (trimethylsilyl)amide (1.0 M solution in THF, 2.81 ml, 2.81 mmol), and cyanomethylphosphonic acid diethyl ester (0.44 ml, 2.81 mmol) in anhydrous THF (5 ml) were treated in the same manner as described above for the synthesis of 3-(2,3-dihydrobenzo[1,4]dioxin-6-yl)-3-(3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)acrylonitrile. The crude material was purified via flash column chromatography (10% EtOAc in hexane) to give 3-(3,5-dimethoxy-phenyl)-3-phenyl-acrylonitrile as an oil (0.33 g, 89%): 1HNMR (DMSO-d6) δ 7.55-7.35 (m, 5H, Ar), 6.67-6.62 (2ts, 1H, Ar), 6.48-6.45 (2ds, 2H, Ar), 6.39 (s, 0.57H, double bond proton of one isomer), 6.34 (s, 0.43H, double bond proton of the other isomer), 3.76 (s, 3H, OCH3), 3.73 (s, 3H, OCH3); 13C NMR (CDCl3) δ 163.2, 163.1, 160.9, 160.9, 141.2, 138.9, 138.7, 137.0, 130.6, 130.2, 129.7, 128.8, 128.6, 128.5, 117.9, 117.8, 107.8, 107.0, 102.3, 102.2, 95.3, 95.1, 55.7, 55.6; Anal. Calcd. For C17H15NO2 (+0.03 H2O): C, 76.80; H, 5.71; N, 5.27. Found: C, 76.41; H, 5.40; N, 5.18.
