Benzoic nitrile

The indication that the syn formula applies to that benzaldoxime which melts at 125° and not to the one which melts at 35°, is that the former readily loses water and is converted into phenyl cyanide or benzoic nitrile. This will be clearly seen as follows ... 

From Phenyl cyanide, CeHe—CN Benzoic nitrile. 

This, it will be recalled, is the first step in the Gattermann synthesis of benzoic acid (p. 674). Another method for preparing benzamide is by the taking up of water by benzoic nitrile which is in agreement with the relation of these compounds. The reaction occurs when the nitrile is treated with an alkaline solution of hydrogen peroxide. 

CeHs—COOH cyanide. Benzoic nitrile. Benzoic acid. Acid. 

Boil 5 ml. (5-1 g.) of benzonitrile and 75 ml. of 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide in a 200 ml. flask under a reflux water condenser until no more oily drops of unchanged nitrile run down from the condenser (usually about 40 minutes). Th detach the condenser and boil the solution in the open flask for a few minutes to remove free ammonia, Cool the liquid, and add concentrated hydrochloric acid cautiously until precipitation of benzoic acid is complete. Cool the mixture again thoroughly, filter off the benzoic acid at the pump, and wash well with cold water. Yield, 5 8 g. (almost theoretical). Confirm the identity of the benzoic acid by the tests given on p. 347. The benzoic acid obtained in this way should be pure and have m.p. 121 a portion may if desired be recrystallised from hot water. 

Hydrolysis of />-Tolunitrile. As in the case of benzonitrile, alkaline h> drolysis is preferable to hydrolysis by 70% sulphuric acid. Boil a mixture of 5 g. of p-tolunitrile, 75 ml. of 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution and 15 ml. of ethanol under a reflux water-condenser. The ethanol is added partly to increase the speed of the hydrolysis, but in particular to prevent the nitrile (which volatilises in the steam) from actually crystallising in the condenser. The solution becomes clear after about i hour s heating, but the boiling should be continued for a total period of 1-5 hours to ensure complete hydrolysis. Then precipitate and isolate the p-toluic acid, CH3CgH4COOH, in precisely the same way as the benzoic acid in the above hydrolysis of benzonitrile. Yield 5 5 g. (almost theoretical). The p-toluic acid has m.p. 178°, and may be recrystallised from a mixture of equal volumes of water and rectified spirit. 

Because cyano groups may be hydrolyzed to carboxylic acids (Section 20 19) the Sand meyer preparation of aryl nitriles is a key step m the conversion of arylammes to sub stituted benzoic acids In the example just cited the o methylbenzomtnle that was formed was subsequently subiected to acid catalyzed hydrolysis and gave o methylbenzoic acid in 80-89% yield... 

Chemical Designations - Synonyms Benzoic Acid Nitrile, Cyanobenzene, Phenylcyanide Chemical Formula C HjCN. 

By introducing reasonable values (about 2 for nitrogen, 4 for oxygen) for the electron affinity parameter relative to carbon, 8, and for the induced electron affinity for adjacent atoms (32/8i = Vio), we have shown that the calculated permanent charge distributions for pyridine, toluene, phenyltrimethylammonium ion, nitrobenzene, benzoic acid, benzaldehyde, acetophenone, benzo-nitrile, furan, thiophene, pyrrole, aniline, and phenol can be satisfactorily correlated qualitatively with the observed positions and rates of substitution. For naphthalene and the halogen benzenes this calculation does not lead to results... 

Free carboxylic acids such as benzoic acid, phenylacetic acid, or 4-hydroxyben-zoic acid 297 are converted on heating with HMDS 2 or OMCTS 52, via their N,0-bis(silylated) amides such as 22a, into nitriles such as 298 [99, 100] (Scheme 4.38). 

The side products of the reaction between benzoylnitromethane 279 and dipolarophiles (norbornene, styrene, and phenylacetylene) in the presence of l,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) were identified as furazan derivatives (Scheme 72). The evidence reported indicates that benzoylnitromethane gives the dibenzoylfuroxan as a key intermediate, which is the dimerization product of the nitrile oxide. The furoxan then undergoes addition to the dipolarophile, hydrolysis, and ring rearrangement to the final products (furazans and benzoic acid) <2006EJ03016>. 

Sandmeyer s synthesis of aromatic nitriles is far more elegant than the removal of water from the ammonium salts of carboxylic acids, which latter reaction is also applicable to benzene derivatives. In particular, the former synthesis permits of the preparation of carboxylic acids via the nitriles, and so provides a complete substitute for Kolbe s synthesis (alkyl halide and potassium cyanide), which is inapplicable to aromatic compounds. The simplest example is the conversion of aniline into benzoic add. The converse transformation is Hofmann s degradation (benzamide aniline, see p. 152). 

There are a few data in the literature to suggest that the hydrolysis of aliphatic nitriles occurs in mammals, but only as a minor or even undetectable pathway in competition with oxidative denitrilation. For example, benzyl cyanide (11.80, Fig. 11.12) undergoes cytochrome P450 catalyzed hydroxy-lation to mandelonitrile (11.81), from which cyanide and benzaldehyde are produced, the latter being oxidized to benzoic acid (11.83) [118]. However, a careful metabolic study of mandelonitrile has shown that, in the rat, this pathway accounts for ca. 90% and not 100% of the dose [122], Only ca. 10% of orally administered benzyl cyanide was converted to mandelic acid (11.82, Fig. 11.12) by hydrolysis of the CN group. 

The cyclocondensation of l,3-amino alcohols with carboxylic acid derivatives is a method often applied for the synthesis of 5,6-dihydro-4/7-l,3-oxazines <1996CHEC-II(6)301 >. Ebsorb-4, a weakly acidic zeolite-type adsorbent with 4 A pore size, proved an efficient catalyst of the cyclization of benzoic acid and 3-aminopropanol <2002TL3985>. In the presence of zinc chloride as a catalyst, the expulsion of ammonia drove the reactions of 3-aminopropanol with nitriles to completion, affording 2-substituted 5,6-dihydro-47f-l,3-oxazines in good yields... 

The action of benzoyl chloride on the nitrile-oxide gives the chloro-oxadiazole XXXVII. In this reaction no hydrochloric but benzoic acid is formed (71, 78). 

Carboxylic acids show most of the standard reactions of benzoic acid. Amides, esters, hydrazides, azides and nitriles can be prepared by standard methods. Thiophenes form stable acid chlorides, furans unstable ones, and A-unsubstituted pyrroles do not form them. 

C-Acylations of C,H-acidic compounds have also been realized on insoluble supports. The few examples that have been reported include the C-acylation of support-bound ester enolates with acyl halides [9], Claisen condensations of polystyrene-bound ketones with benzoic acid esters, the C-acylation of nitriles with acyl nitriles or anhydrides, and the C-acylation of phosphonates with acyl halides (Entries 5-9, Table... 

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