Camphor Ritter reaction

However, only recently the acid-catalyzed reaction of the keto and cyano functional groups have been reported. In these articles the unreactivity of ketones in the Ritter reaction was noted and the search for conditions to overcome this lack of reactivity was described. The reactions of camphor 110a81, isocamphanone 110b82 and their structural analogs isofenchone 110c and 5-exo-ethyl norcamphor 110d83 with acetonitrile in the... 

In 1876 Hepp and Spiess reported that aldehydes react with nitriles under acidic conditions to yield geminal bisamides (equation 25). This process proceeds by a mechanistic pathway which is essentially two consecutive Ritter reactions. In general, ketones do not yield similar products however, Kozlov has recently obtained a low yield of the geminal bisamide from camphor and acetonitrile. High yields of analogous products from cyclopentanone and cyclohexanone have also been reported. ... 

---