Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation

Novartis Finance Corporation

Richard Breitschuh

Benoit Pugin

Adriano Indolese

Verena Gisin

Process for the preparation of substituted 3-aminobenzonitriles

A process for the preparation of nitriles of formula ##STR1## wherein X is CH or N, and R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are each independently of the other hydrogen, chloro, bromo, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy, C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkylamino, CN, phenyl, phenoxy, dimethylamino, piperidyl, morpholinyl or pyrrolidyl, or R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 together form a fused benzene ring, by reacting an aldehyde of formula ##STR2## with hydroxylaminosulfate in the presence of a tertiary amine base of formula ##STR3## wherein R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 are each independently of the other hydrogen, methyl or ethyl, R.sub.5 is branched C.sub.3 -C.sub.5 alkyl or phenyl, and R.sub.6 and R.sub.7 are methyl or ethyl, in the temperature range from 100.degree. to 160.degree. C., while distilling the released water of reaction off concomittantly at a pressure in the range of 0.02 to 1.5 bar, with subsequent removal of the ammonium salts, and isolating the nitrile so obtained by customary methods.

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Berlin, Germany

Richard Breitschuh