Isocyanides have found a wide range of applications in organic synthesis,(1) particularly in the synthesis of heterocycles.(2) The electron-withdrawing effect of the isocyano group enhances the acidity of α-C,H bonds, and this was first exploited by Schöllkopf and Gerhart(3) (Figure 1) in 1968. Since then, α-metallated isocyanides have been shown to participate in various types of cocyclizations leading to different nitrogen-containing heterocycles.(4) Conversely, the ...
[Zeitschrift fuer Physikalische Chemie, Stoechiometrie und Verwandtschaftslehre, , vol. 78, p. 362 Journal of the Chemical Society, , vol. 107, p. 733]