1. 3-(Trifluoromethyl)aniline (2.0 g, 0.012 mol) was dissolved in dichloromethane (60 ml) under argon protection with stirring.
2. Bromoacetyl bromide (1.2 ml, 0.0137 mol) was slowly added dropwise to the above solution over a period of 10 min, during which the formation of a white precipitate was observed.
3. the reaction mixture was slowly warmed to room temperature and stirring was continued for 1.5 hours.
4. Solid sodium bicarbonate (1.65 g, 0.0196 mol) was added and stirring was continued for 40 minutes.
5. The reaction mixture was treated with water (100 ml), stirred for 10 minutes and then the dichloromethane layer was separated by a phase separation column.
6. The separated methylene chloride layer was concentrated under vacuum to give 2-bromo-N-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)acetamide as a colorless oil (3.65 g, 100% yield). 7. The product was analyzed by mass spectrometry (ESI).
7. The product was confirmed by mass spectrometry (electrospray LC/MS): the measured value of 282 (MH+) was consistent with the theoretical value of C9H7BrF3NO (281). Retention time 2.74 min.
8. 1H NMR (CDCl3; 400 MHz) data: δ 4.05 (2H, s), 7.40-7.53 (2H, m), 7.76 (1H, d), 7.83 (1H, s), 8.24 (1H, br s).
