Thiol-Catalyzed Radical Decyanation of Aliphatic Nitriles with Sodium Borohydride

Org Lett. 2018 Apr 6;20(7):2084-2087. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.8b00626. Epub 2018 Mar 8.

Abstract

Radical decyanation of aliphatic nitriles was achieved in the presence of NaBH4 and a thiol. The reaction proceeds via a radical mechanism involving borane radical anion addition to nitrile to form an iminyl radical, which undergoes carbon-carbon cleavage. Reductive radical addition to acrylonitrile is followed by decyanation to give a two-carbon homologated product in a net radical ethylation reaction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't