Abstract: o-Chlorobenzonitrile was prepared from the cyanization reaction of o-chlorobromobenzene using potassium ferrocyanide as cyanating agent and Pd/C as a catalyst. The reaction conditions were optimized through investigating the reaction temperature, base, the amount of catalyst, the ratio of reactants. The conversion of the o-chlorobromobenzene to target product could reach 98.5% and the yield of o-chlorobenzonitrile was 95.1%.

Key words: o-chlorobromobenzene, potassium ferrocyanide, cyanization reaction