Addition of Hydrogen Cyanide

Hydrogen cyanide adds to aldehydes and ketones to form products known as cyanohydrins, as shown in the following examples. The reaction proceeds by the basic conditions mechanism and is catalyzed by cyanide ion. 

As an example of this effect, the equilibrium constant for the reaction of acetone with hydrogen cyanide is 32, whereas the equilibrium constant for a similar reaction of acetophenone is 0.77  

Linder typical conditions the reaction of acetone with hydrogen cyanide (K = 32) has most of the reactants converted to the product at equilibrium. This allows the cyanohydrin to be obtained in acceptable isolated yield (78%). In contrast, the amount of cyanohydrin product that is present at equilibrium in the reaction of acetophenone (K = 0.77) is too low for the reaction to be synthetically useful unless some method is used to drive the equilibrium toward the product. 

Explain why p-me tho xyacetophenone has a smaller equilibrium constant for cyanohydrin formation than does acetophenone. 

The methoxy group donates electrons to the carbonyl carbon by resonance, making it less electrophilic and less reactive. Therefore, the equilibrium constant for cyanohydrin formation is larger for acetophenone than for p-methoxyacetophenone. 

The conjugate addition of hydrogen cyanide, generated in situ from KCN and acetic acid to P-mesityl ketones, gives high yields of the corresponding oxo nitriles in aqueous ethanol (Eq. 10.19).  

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CHjiCH-CN. Volatile liquid b.p. 78"C. Manufactured by the catalytic dehydration of ethylene cyanhydrin, by the addition of hydrogen cyanide to ethyne in the presence of CuCI or the reaction of propene, ammonia and air in the presence of a molybdenum-based catalyst. 

By (he direct addition of hydrogen cyanide to aldehydes and ketones, giving cyanhydrins ... 

With this as background let us now examine how the principles of nucleophilic addition apply to the characteristic reactions of aldehydes and ketones We 11 begin with the addition of hydrogen cyanide... 

The product of addition of hydrogen cyanide to an aldehyde or a ketone contains both a hydroxyl group and a cyano group bonded to the same carbon Compounds of this type are called cyanohydrins... 

The addition of hydrogen cyanide is catalyzed by cyanide ion but HCN is too weak an acid to provide enough C=N for the reaction to proceed at a reasonable rate Cyanohydrins are therefore normally prepared by adding an acid to a solution containing the carbonyl compound and sodium or potassium cyanide This procedure ensures that free cyanide ion is always present m amounts sufficient to increase the rate of the reaction... 

The presence of an aldehyde function m their open chain forms makes aldoses reactive toward nucleophilic addition of hydrogen cyanide Addition yields a mixture of diastereo meric cyanohydrins... 

Analogously, aldehydes react with ammonia [7664-41-7] or primary amines to form Schiff bases. Subsequent reduction produces a new amine. The addition of hydrogen cyanide [74-90-8] sodium bisulfite [7631-90-5] amines, alcohols, or thiols to the carbonyl group usually requires the presence of a catalyst to assist in reaching the desired equilibrium product. 

Addition of Hydrogen Cyanide. At one time the predominant commercial route to acrylonitrile was the addition of hydrogen cyanide to acetylene. The reaction can be conducted in the Hquid (CuCl catalyst) or gas phase (basic catalyst at 400 to 600°C). This route has been completely replaced by the ammoxidation of propylene (SOHIO process) (see Acrylonitrile). 

In the final step the dinitrile is formed from the anti-Markovrukov addition of hydrogen cyanide [74-90-8] at atmospheric pressure and 30—150°C in the hquid phase with a Ni(0) catalyst. The principal by-product, 2-methylglutaronitrile/4j5 j5 4-ti2-, when hydrogenated using a process similar to that for the conversion of ADN to hexamethylenediamine, produces 2-meth5i-l,5-pentanediamine or 2-methylpentamethylenediamine [15520-10-2] (MPMD), which is also used in the manufacture of polyamides as a comonomer. 

Nitriles. Nitriles can be prepared by a number of methods, including ( /) the reaction of alkyl haHdes with alkaH metal cyanides, (2) addition of hydrogen cyanide to a carbon—carbon, carbon—oxygen, or carbon—nitrogen multiple bond, (2) reaction of hydrogen cyanide with a carboxyHc acid over a dehydration catalyst, and (4) ammoxidation of hydrocarbons containing an activated methyl group. For reviews on the preparation of nitriles see references 14 and 15. 

Enantioselective addition of hydrogen cyanide to hydroxypivaldehyde (25), catalyzed by (lf)-oxynittilase, afforded (R)-cyanohydrin (26) in good optical yield. Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis followed by cyclization resulted in (R)-pantolactone in 98% ee and 95% yield after one recrystallization (56). 

Carbonyl Group Reactions. Mandelonitrile [532-28-5] is formed by the addition of hydrogen cyanide to the carbonyl double bond. 

A cyanohydrin is an organic compound that contains both a cyanide and a hydroxy group on an aUphatic section of the molecule. Cyanohydrias are usually a-hydroxy nitriles which are the products of base-cataly2ed addition of hydrogen cyanide to the carbonyl group of aldehydes and ketones. The lUPAC name for cyanohydrias is based on the a-hydroxy nitrile name. Common names of cyanohydrias are derived from the aldehyde or ketoae from which they are formed (Table 1). 

Addition of hydrogen cyanide to an aldose to form a cyanohydrin is the first step in the Kiliani-Fischer method for increasing the carbon chain of aldoses by one unit. Cyanohydrins react with Grignard reagents (see Grignard reaction) to give a-hydroxy ketones. 

AH ahphatic aldehydes and most ketones react to form cyanohydrins. The lower reactivity of ketones, relative to aldehydes, is attributed to a combination of electron-donating effects and increased steric hindrance of the second alkyl group in the ketones. The magnitude of the equiUbrium constants for the addition of hydrogen cyanide to a carbonyl group is a measure of the stabiUty of the cyanohydrin relative to the carbonyl compound plus hydrogen cyanide ... 

Silylated cyanohydrins have also been prepared via silylation of cyanohydrins themselves and by the addition of hydrogen cyanide to silyl enol ethers. Silylated cyanohydrins have proved to be quite useful in a variety of synthetic transformations, including the regiospecific protection of p-quinones, as intermediates in an efficient synthesis of a-aminomethyl alcohols, and for the preparation of ketone cyanohydrins themselves.The silylated cyanohydrins of heteroaromatic aldehydes have found extensive use as... 

Triamterene (31) is a diuretic that has found acceptance because it results in enhanced sodium ion excretion without serious loss of potassium ion or significant uric acid retention. Tautomerism of aminopyrimidines (e.g., 27a and 27b) serves to make the "nonenolized" amine at the 5 position more basic than the remaining amines. Thus, condensation of 27 with benzaldehyde goes at the most basic nitrogen to form 28. Addition of hydrogen cyanide gives the a-aminonitrile (29). Treatment of that intermediate with base leads to the eyelized dihydropirazine compound (30). This undergoes spontaneous air oxidation to afford triamterene (31). ... 

Today, the most promising synthesis of optically active cyanohydrins, especially with respect to the enantioselectivity of the reaction, is the enzyme-catalyzed addition of hydrogen cyanide to aldehydes and ketones, respectively. 

Hexamethylenediamine is now made by three different routes the original from adipic acid, the electrodimerization of acrylonitrile, and the addition of hydrogen cyanide to butadiene. Thus, the starting material can be cyclohexane, propylene, or butadiene. Currently, the cyclohexane-based route from adipic acid is the most costly and this process is being phased out. The butadiene route is patented by DuPont and requires hydrogen cyanide facilities. Recent new hexamethylenediamine plants, outside DuPont, are based on acrylonitrile from propylene, a readily available commodity. 

Addition of hydrogen cyanide to osones followed by hydrolysis. 

Addition of Hydrogen Cyanide to Osones Followed by Hydrolysis... 

A short synthesis of D-gulono-1,4-lactone (2) from the inexpensive and readily available D-xylose (34) was first reported by Fischer and Stahel,18 and subsequently by others,12,25-31 and is shown in Scheme 6. The addition of hydrogen cyanide to D-xylose (34) resulted in the formation of cyanohydrins 35 and 36 which, on hydrolysis, afforded a mixture of D-gulonic acid (4) and D-idonic acid (37). D-Gulono-1,4-lactone may be obtained in 30-33% yield by recrystallization of the reaction products. In a similar way, L-xylose (l-34) has been converted32,33 in high yield into a mixture of L-gulonic and L-idonic acids. 

The modem concept of asymmetric induction is illustrated by the formulas in Fig. 1. As shown, the addition of hydrogen cyanide to the optically active aldehyde can lead to two diastereomers (1 and 2). If the process is under thermodynamic control, the formation of the more stable isomer will be favored that is, that isomer for which the non-bonded interactions between the newly formed cyano and the hydroxyl groups with the dissymmetric R group are weakest. On the other hand, the difference in the yields of 1 and 2 can be the result of kinetic control arising from a difference in the energies of the transition states—that state with the lower energy will form faster and lead to the product of higher yield. It is noteworthy that the tenets... 

The simultaneous formation of the two stereoisomeric products on addition of hydrogen cyanide to aldehydes, which was observed here for the first time, is quite remarkable in theoretical as well as in practical terms. 

The other reactions of the aldehydes, which are extraordinarily reactive substances, need only he mentioned here. Such reactions are reduction to alcohols, formation of hydrazones, oximes, semicarbazones, bisulphite compounds, acetals and cyanohydrins (by addition of hydrogen cyanide). 

ADDITION OF HYDROGEN CYANIDE TO AN ALDEHYDE. MANDELIC ACID FROM BENZALDEHYDE... 

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