Conjugate addition of hydrogen cyanide

The conjugate addition of hydrogen cyanide, generated in situ from KCN and acetic acid to (i-mesityl ketones, gives high yields of the corresponding oxo nitriles in aqueous ethanol (Eq. 10.19).41... 

Many of the synthetic routes derived for pregabalin (2) before 2003 have relied on classical chiral resolution of either an intermediate or the final racemic 3-isobutyl GABA (43). In 2003, Jacobsen and co-workers published their work on a novel enantio-selective synthesis of pregabalin (2) (Sammis and Jacobsen, 2003). The Harvard group was able to promote conjugate addition of hydrogen cyanide into the unsaturated imide... 

Addition of hydrogen cyanide. As one step in a total synthesis of effect conjugate addition of hydrogen cyanide to the intermediate... 

As part of a projected synthesis of corrins, a simple synthesis of y-substi-tuted y-butyrolactams via the conjugate addition of hydrogen cyanide to unsaturated ketones is described contrary to a much earlier report, the )S-cyanohydrin (101) is not produced, but a mixture of the two butyro-lactams (102) and (103) is isolated, (103) being convertible into (102) by reaction with basic cyanide solution. Reaction of one of those, (102), with potassium t-butoxide in t-butyl alcohol gave, inter alia, the semi-corrinoid (104), These transformations are outlined in Scheme 35. 

Copper-catalyzed monoaddition of hydrogen cyanide to conjugated alkenes proceeded very conveniently with 1,3-butadiene, but not with its methyl-substituted derivatives. The most efficient catalytic system consisted of cupric bromide associated to trichloroacetic acid, in acetonitrile at 79 °C. Under these conditions, 1,3-butadiene was converted mainly to (Z )-l-cyano-2-butene, in 68% yield. A few percents of (Z)-l-cyano-2-butene and 3-cyano-1-butene (3% and 4%, respectively) were also observed. Polymerization of the olefinic products was almost absent. The very high regioselectivity in favor of 1,4-addition of hydrogen cyanide contrasted markedly with the very low regioselectivity of acetic acid addition (vide supra). Methyl substituents on 1,3-butadiene decreased significantly the efficiency of the reaction. With isoprene and piperylene, the mononitrile yields were reduced... 

The addition of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) to carbon-carbon double bonds activated by electron-withdrawing groups in the presence of a base as a catalyst (a variation of the Michael Reaction) has been known for a long time. Nitriles were also obtained by hydrocyanation of branched olefins, such as isobutylene and trimethylethylene, in vapor phase reactions in particular the reactions over alumina (3) and cobalt-on-alumina (4) were reported in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Addition of HCN to conjugated dienes in the presence of cuprous salts (vapor and liquid phase) was reported as early as 1947 (5). 

Except for the well-documented conjugate additions of diethylaluminum cyanide,92 triethylaluminum-hydrogen cyanide and Lewis acid-tertiary alkyl isonitriles,93 examples of Lewis acid catalyzed conjugate additions of acyl anion equivalents are scant Notable examples are additions of copper aldimines (233),94, 94b prepared from (232), and silyl ketene acetals (234)940 to a,(3-enones which afford 1,4-ketoal-dehydes (235) and 2,5-diketo esters (236), respectively (Scheme 37). The acetal (234) is considered a glyoxylate ester anion equivalent. 

Addition of hydrogen cyanide to an olefin can be accomplished under catalysis with dicobalt octacarbonyl at 130° at a pressure of 25-200 atmospheres. Best results are obtained with terminal olefins, conjugated dienes, which give mainly 1,4-addition products, and with Diels-Alder adducts of cyclopentadiene, which give mixtures and/or position isomers. 

The conjugate base of hydrogen cyanide is the cyanide ion ( C=Ns). Cyanide ion is a strong base and a strong nucleophile. It attacks ketones and aldehydes to give addition products called t anohydrins. The mechanism is a base-catalyzed nucleophilic addition attack by cyanide ion on the carbonyl group, followed by protonation of the intermediate. 

Almost every nucleophilic reagent that adds at the carbonyl carbon of a simple aldehyde or ketone is capable of adding at the j8 carbon of an a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compound. In many instances when weaker nucleophiles are used, conjugate addition is the major reaction path. Consider the following addition of hydrogen cyanide ... 

Pentenenitrile is first rapidly isomerized by the nickel catalyst to 4-pentenenit-rile. Addition of hydrogen cyanide then affords adiponitrile as the major product. This is fortunate, as the unwanted conjugated 2-pentenenitrile is thermodynamically more stable than either the 3- or the 4-isomer. The favourable initial course of the isomerization is thought to be controlled by the formation of a cyclic intermediate or transition state in which the nitrile group coordinates to nickel. 

Triethylaluminum-hydrogen cyanide and diethylaluminum cyanide are also useful reagents for conjugate addition of cyanide. The latter is the more reactive of the two reagents. These reactions presumably involve the coordination of the aluminum reagent as a Lewis acid at the carbonyl oxygen. 

Mercaptans add to olefins according to Markownikoff s rule in the presence of sulfur or sulfuric acid. The mode of addition is reversed by peroxides. The yields of sulfides are generally in the range of 60-90%. Somewhat lower yields (50-60%) are obtained by the addition of mercaptans to vinyl chloride and allyl alcohol. Conjugated olefinic aldehydes, ketones, esters, and cyanides add mercaptans and thiophenols in excellent yield. In certain cases the unsaturated compound may be converted directly to a symmetrical sulfide by addition of hydrogen sulfide (cf. method 388). 

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