Imines, alkylation reaction with cyanide

Sigman and Jacobsen reported the first example of a metal-catalyzed enantioselective Strecker-type reaction using a chiral Alnl-salen complex (salen = N,N -bis(salicyhdene)-ethylenediamine dianion) [4]. A variety of N-allylimines 4 were evaluated in the reaction catalyzed by complex 5 to give products 6, which were isolated as trifluoroacetamides in good yields and moderate-to-excellent enantioselectivities (Scheme 3). Substituted arylimines 4 were the best substrates, while alkyl-substituted imines afforded products with considerably lower ee values. Jacobsen and co-workers also reported that non-metal Schiff base catalysts 8 and 9 proved to be effective in the Strecker reaction of imines 7 with hydrogen cyanide to afford trifluoroacetamides 10 after reaction with trifluoroacetic anhydride, since the free amines were not stable to chromatography (Scheme 4) [5]. 

Arylmethylamines can be oxidized to the corresponding arylamides by formation of a Schiff base with 2,6-di-t-butylbenzoquinone and base-catalysed oxygenation. Allenic alcohols are oxidized to allenic amides by nickel peroxide at -20 °C in ethereal ammonia. N-Alkyl-amides can be prepared from aldehydes in a four-step procedure consisting of imine formation and subsequent reactions with N-chlorosuccinimide, potassium cyanide, and finally alcoholic HCl. ... 

The classical procedure for the reaction involves heating the alkyl halide (usually the chloride or bromide) with sodium or potassium cyanide in metha-nolic or ethanolic solution. The method is clearly of value for the extension of the carbon chain by one carbon atom, since the cyano group may be converted into a carboxyl group by hydrolysis (Section 5.11.2, p. 671) or into an amino-methyl group (—CH2-NH2) by reduction (Section 5.16.1, p. 771), or into a formyl group by controlled reduction to the imine followed by hydrolysis (Section 5.7.4, p. 594). ... 

Reaction of the imine 75, from 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde and amino-acetal, with benzoyl chloride and potassium cyanide leads to the open-chain Reissert analog 76. This analog can be alkylated with benzyl chloride in the presence of dimethylformamide, but acid hydrolysis of the alkylation product leads to 77. ... 

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