An improved method for direct conversion of heteroaryl-aldehydes to heteroaryl-acetonitriles

…, K Furness, S Malhotra, C Diefenbacher, JR Clayton

Index: Engler, Thomas A.; Furness, Kelly; Malhotra, Sushant; Diefenbacher, Clive; Clayton, Joshua R. Tetrahedron Letters, 2003 , vol. 44, # 14 p. 2903 - 2905

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Citation Number: 9

Abstract

Treatment of heteroaryl-aldehydes with diethyl cyanophosphonate in the presence of a catalytic amount of LiCN affords phosphorylated cyanohydrins which are reduced in situ with SmI2 to give heteroaryl-acetonitriles in generally good overall yields (50–100%). The generality of the process is demonstrated.