Recent developments and perspectives in palladium-catalyzed cyanation of aryl halides: synthesis of benzonitriles

Recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed C–CN bond activations

Recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed C–CN bond activation, leading to a lot of important approaches such as cyanofunctionalization, cross-coupling and cyanation, are reviewed.

Catalytic constructive deoxygenation of lignin-derived phenols: new C–C bond formation processes from imidazole-sulfonates and ether cleavage reactions

Anticipating that 2-methoxyphenol could become an important renewable feedstock derived from lignin, various catalytic constructive deoxygenation reactions are reported (see scheme).

Rhodium-catalyzed ortho-cyanation of symmetrical azobenzenes with N-cyano-N-phenyl-p-toluenesulfonamide

A rhodium(iii)-catalyzed ortho-cyanation of symmetrical azobenzenes with NCTS via azo-group-directed C(sp²)–H bond activation is described.

Chopping unfunctionalized carbon–carbon bonds: a new paradigm for the synthesis of organonitriles

Chopping of carbon–carbon bonds was very recently shown to be an efficient new strategy for the synthesis of organonitriles, as developed in this Highlight.

Copper catalyzed nitrile synthesis from aryl halides using formamide as a nitrile source

A simple and efficient protocol has been developed for nitrile synthesis from aryl halides in the presence of an inexpensive and easily available copper catalyst along with triphenyl phosphine ligand.

A highly efficient, ligand-free and recyclable SBA-15 supported Cu2O catalyzed cyanation of aryl iodides with potassium hexacyanoferrate(ii)

SBA-15 supported Cu₂O nanoparticles (Cu₂O/SBA-15) have been fabricated and characterized. The Cu₂O/SBA-15 nanoparticles can effectively catalyze cyanation of aryl iodides using non-toxic K₄[Fe(CN)₆] as a cyanide source.

Cyanide-arene Meisenheimer complex generated in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using acetonitrile as a solvent

The C - C bond formation activated under negative electrospray ionization of an acetonitrile solution of 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene is reported. The solvent function is to provide a source of cyanide ion, a highly problematic reagent, which is found to attack the electron-deficient aromatic ring to form a covalently bound anionic complex (Meisenheimer complex). The structure of the complex is elucidated by means of collision induced dissociation mass spectrometry and IR multiple photon dissociation spectroscopy in the 'fingerprint' region.

A general, practical palladium-catalyzed cyanation of (hetero)aryl chlorides and bromides

Playing it safe: The nontoxic cyanide source K4 [Fe(CN)6]·3H2O can be used for the cyanation of (hetero)aryl halides. The application of palladacycle catalysts prevents poisoning during catalyst formation, thereby allowing for low catalyst loadings, fast reaction times, and wide heterocyclic substrate scope.

Copper-mediated transformation of organosilanes to nitriles with DMF and ammonium iodide

Cyanation of aryl-, diaryldimethyl-, and styrylsilanes was developed for the first time under copper-mediated oxidative conditions using ammonium iodide and DMF as the combined source of nitrogen and carbon atom of the introduced cyano unit, respectively. The reaction was observed to proceed in a two-step process: initial conversion of organosilanes to their iodo intermediates and then cyanation. This method has a broad substrate scope with high functional group tolerance.