General procedure for the synthesis of [3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]acetic acid from [3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]acetonitrile: [3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]acetonitrile (5.4 g, 0.03 mol) was mixed with an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide (6 g, 0.15 mol) and heated to reflux overnight. Upon completion of the reaction, it was cooled to room temperature and the pH of the reaction solution was adjusted with dilute hydrochloric acid to 2. Subsequently, the precipitate precipitated was collected by filtration, washed with water and dried to afford [3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]acetic acid as a white solid (5.2 g, 87% yield). The structure of the product was confirmed by 1H NMR (300 MHz, DMSO-d6): δ 7.6 (m, 4H, aromatic hydrogen), 3.7 (s, 2H, CH2).
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