An easy access to 7-methyl-2-naphthalenecarbonitrile.

A practical and cost-effective procedure has been developed for the synthesis of 7-methyl-2-naphthalenecarbonitrile, the precursor of the anticoagulant agents YM-60828 or YM-96765. This new route generates the key intermediate in only two steps from readily available 3-cyanopropionaldehyde dimethyl acetal and m-tolualdehyde, without requiring chromatographic purification. The synthesis involves condensation of the cyano derivative with the aldehyde and subsequent cyclodehydration.