Step 1: Synthesis of 4-amino-3-fluorobenzonitrile
2-Fluoro-4-iodoaniline (2.0 g, 8.4 mmol) and cuprous cyanide (982 mg, 11.0 mmol, 1.5 eq.) were added to N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF, 30 mL). The reaction mixture was heated to 130 °C and the reaction was stirred at this temperature for 8 hours. After completion of the reaction, the mixture was cooled to room temperature and diluted with ethyl acetate. The diluted solution was washed sequentially with deionized water (2 times) and saturated saline, and then dried with anhydrous magnesium sulfate. The dried solution was concentrated by filtration and the crude product obtained was purified by column chromatography (eluent: n-hexane/ethyl acetate = 3:1, v/v) to give the white solid product 4-amino-3-fluorobenzonitrile (914 mg, 84% yield).
1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3): δ 7.21-7.26 (m, 2H), 6.74 (t, 1H, J = 8.3 Hz), 4.20 (bs, 2H).
