Nitriles from substitution with cyanide

Because nitriles can be prepared from alkyl halides by nucleophilic substitution with cyanide ion the overall process RX RC=N RCH2NH2 leads to primary amines that have one more carbon atom than the starting alkyl halide... 

Although nitriles lack an acyl group, they are considered acid derivatives because they hydrolyze to carboxylic acids. Nitriles are frequently made from carboxylic acids (with the same number of carbons) by conversion to primary amides followed by dehydration. They are also made from primary alkyl halides and tosylates (adding one carbon) by nucleophilic substitution with cyanide ion. Aryl cyanides can be made by the Sandmeyer reaction of an aryldiazonium salt with cuprous cyanide. a-Hydroxynitriles (cyanohydrins) are made by the reaction of ketones and aldehydes with HCN. 

Various sulfuric and phosphoric acid esters have sometimes been used instead of alcohols as starting materials for the preparation of nitriles. Of more general importance are sulfonates, particularly from methane- or p-toluene-sulfonic acid, which react in an 5N2-type substitution with cyanide ions. The most common starting materials are, as described in Section 1.8.1.2.1, alkyl halides, and if their preparation creates problems, the use of sulfonates may be advantageous. The addition of crown ethers or the... 

Type G syntheses are typified by the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of nitrile sulfides with nitriles. Nitrile sulfides are reactive 1,3-dipoles and they are prepared as intermediates by the thermolysis of 5-substituted-l,3,4-oxathiazol-2-ones 102. The use of nitriles as dipolarophiles has resulted in a general method for the synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted-l,2,4-thiadiazoles 103 (Scheme 11). The thermolysis is performed at 190°C with an excess of the nitrile. The yields are moderate, but are satisfactory when aromatic nitrile sulfides interact with electrophilic nitriles. A common side reaction results from the decomposition of the nitrile sulfide to give a nitrile and sulfur. This nitrile then reacts with the nitrile sulfide to yield symmetrical 1,2,4-thiadiazoles <2004HOU277>. Excellent yields have been obtained when tosyl cyanide has been used as the acceptor molecule <1993JHC357>. 

The reaction of vinylic phenyliodium salts (57) with cyanide anions could be mistaken for a simple substitution reaction.59 However, the presence of both allylic (58) and vinylic (59) nitrile products suggests a more complex picture. Deuterium labelling experiments show that the allylic product is formed via the Michael addition of cyanide to the vinylic iodonium salt, followed by elimination of iodobenzene and a 1,2-hydrogen shift in the 2-cyanocycloalkylidene intermediate (60). H-shift occurs from the methylene carbon in preference to the methine carbon. The effects of substitution and different nucleophiles were examined. 

Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) were applied to the synthesis of substituted isoxazolines. For example, 64 was obtained by addition of nitro-alkene 60 and acrylate 61 to a solution of isonitrile 59 generated in situ by reaction of trimethylsilyl cyanide and isobutene oxide in the presence of Pd(CN)2 <05OL3179>. This cascade MCR is believed to occur through [1+4] cycloaddition of 59 with 60, subsequent fragmentation of 62 and 1,3-DC of nitrile oxide 63 with 61. Under microwave irradiation, reaction times could be reduced from several hours to 15 min, with comparable yields. 

Reactions of Oxazoles. The reaction of 4-phenyloxazole with di(acetoxy-methyl)acetylene gives the furan (531 R = CH2OAC) by extrusion of benzo-nitrile from the intermediate Diels-Alder adduct (530 R = CH20Ac). Similarly, 5-cyano-4-methyloxazole and hept-l-yne yield mainly the furan (532) and methyl cyanide a minor product, the 4-substituted isomer (533), arises from the alternative mode of addition of the acetylene. The sensitized photooxidation of 2,4-diphenyl-2-oxazolin-5-one (534) affords, inter alia, the coupled product (535). ... 

The most general methods for the syntheses of 1,2-difunctional molecules are based on the oxidation of carbon-carbon multiple bonds (p. 117) and the opening of oxiranes by hetero atoms (p. 123fl.). There exist, however, also a few useful reactions in which an a - and a d -synthon or two r -synthons are combined. The classical polar reaction is the addition of cyanide anion to carbonyl groups, which leads to a-hydroxynitriles (cyanohydrins). It is used, for example, in Strecker s synthesis of amino acids and in the homologization of monosaccharides. The ff-hydroxy group of a nitrile can be easily substituted by various nucleophiles, the nitrile can be solvolyzed or reduced. Therefore a large variety of terminal difunctional molecules with one additional carbon atom can be made. Equally versatile are a-methylsulfinyl ketones (H.G. Hauthal, 1971 T. Durst, 1979 O. DeLucchi, 1991), which are available from acid chlorides or esters and the dimsyl anion. Carbanions of these compounds can also be used for the synthesis of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds (p. 65f.). 

Nitriles are organic derivatives of hydrocyanic acid in which the substituting group is attached to carbon. Their formula is R.C N. Because most nitriles can be derived from corresponding acid amides, R.CO.NH2, by removal of w, they are called nitriles. For instance, the compd CH3.CN is called acetonitrile because it is derived from acetamide. It can also be called methyl cyanide. The compd C2HS.CN is called either propionitrile or ethyl cyanide, etc The first nitrile to be prepared was propionitrile which J. Pelouze obtained in 1834 by distg Ba ethyl sulfate with K cyanide... 

Cyano-de-diazoniations of the Sandmeyer type have been used for the synthesis of aromatic nitriles for many decades (example Clarke and Reed, 1964), as cyanide ions are comparable to bromide and iodide in many respects. A homolytic cyano-de-diazo-niation that does not use metal ions as reductant or ligand transfer reagent was described by Petrillo et al. (1987). They showed that substituted diazosulfides (XC6H4 — N2 — SC6H5), either isolated or generated in situ from arenediazonium tetrafluoroborates and sodium benzenethiolate, react with tetrabutylammonium cyanide in dimethylsulfoxide under photon stimulation, leading to nitriles (XC6H4CN). The method worked well with eleven benzenediazonium ions substituted in the 3- or 4-position, and was also used for the synthesis of phthalo-, isophthalo-, and tere-... 

The reaction of cyanide ion with substituted benzhydryl carbenium ions to form nitriles and isocyanides is controlled by the rates of reaction at carbon and nitrogen.124 In slow reactions, far from the diffusion limit, the attack is completely at the cyanide carbon. Very fast reactions, with little or no reaction barrier reacting at the diffusion-controlled limit, occur at both the N and the C of the cyanide ion. XN2 reactions occur almost exclusively at carbon regardless of the substrate or source of the cyanide ion. The HSAB principle cannot predict the products of these reactions. 

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