convert benzaldehyde to phenyl cyanide
Answers
The synthesis reaction is straightforward in a few steps. You must work in a safe laboratory setting because the reagents and products are all very poisonous. For this information I credit PrepChem at http://www.prepchem.com/synthesi...
30 g of pure potassium cyanide are dissolved in 25 ml of water and the solution is added in a 500 ml round flask attached to a reflux condenser. Heat is applied and to this hot solution slowly 50 g of benzyl chloride dissolved in an equal weight of alcohol are added. The reaction mixture is refluxed gently 3-4 hours. The liquid separates into two layers; the upper brown layer consisting of an alcoholic solution of benzyl cyanide and the lower of an aqueous solution of potassium chloride. The upper layer is separated and fractionally distilled. Alcohol first distills, a little water follows and, when the temperature reaches 210° C, the distillate consists of benzyl cyanide. The fraction passing between 210° C and 235° C is collected. The yield of benzyl cyanide is about 35 g.
The recipe comes from "A Class-Book of Organic Chemistry", by J. B. Cohen, 4-5, 1919.