10406-25-4

15996-76-6

In a 200 mL four-neck flask equipped with a stirrer, a thermometer, a gas introduction tube, and a reflux condenser, 4-cyanobenzylamine (10.0 g) obtained in Preparation Example 3 was dissolved in ethyl acetate (90.0 g). The reactor was cooled in a water bath under stirring while hydrogen chloride gas was slowly introduced into the gas phase of the reactor. Immediately after the introduction of hydrogen chloride gas, an exothermic phenomenon was observed and a white solid precipitated. After the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, the white solid was separated by filtration and dried in a vacuum desiccator to give 12.6 g of 4-(aminomethyl)benzonitrile hydrochloride (99% yield as 4-cyanobenzylamine). The resulting 4-(aminomethyl)benzonitrile hydrochloride was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography and found to contain 77 wt% of 4-cyanobenzylamine. In addition, anion chromatographic analysis showed 23 wt% of hydrogen chloride in 4-(aminomethyl)benzonitrile hydrochloride. The measured bulk density of 4-(aminomethyl)benzonitrile hydrochloride was 0.3 g/mL.