Cyanides, acyl formation halides

The most frequently used method for the preparation of isoquinoline Reissert compounds is treatment of an isoquinoline with acyl chloride and potassium cyanide in water or in a dichloromethane-water solvent system. Though this method could be successfully applied in a great number of syntheses, it has also some disadvantages. First, the starting isoquinoline and the Reissert compound formed in the reaction are usually insoluble in water. Second, in the case of reactive acyl halides the hydrolysis of this reaction partner may became dominant. Third, the hydroxide ion present could compete with the cyanide ion as a nucleophile to produce a pseudobase instead of Reissert compound. To decrease the pseudobase formation phase-transfer catalysts have been used successfully in the case of the dichloromethane-water solvent system, resulting in considerably increased yields of the Reissert compound. To avoid the hydrolysis of reactive acid halides in some cases nonaqueous media have been applied, e.g., acetonitrile, acetone, dioxane, benzene, while utilizing hydrogen cyanide or trimethylsilyl cyanide as reactants instead of potassium cyanide. 

The conversion of aliphatic and aromatic acyl halides to a keto nitriles has been effected by heating the halides with dry metallic cyanides, of which cuprous cyanide has given the most satisfactory results (60-87%). The acyl bromides rather than the chlorides ate preferred, at least in the formation of aliphatic compounds. Thus, pyruvonitrile is prepared in 77% yield from acetyl bromide and cuprous cyanide whereas no product is obtained if acetyl chloride is employed. Benzoyl cyanide is made in 65% yield by heating the corresponding acyl chloride with cuprous cyanide. "... 

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