Nitriles synthesis from

Preparation of Nitriles Investigated in Micro Reactors Organic synthesis 4 [OS 4] Nitrile synthesis from a-bromotoluene... 

A new method of nitrile synthesis from aldehydes has been discovered using 0-(2-aminobenzoyl)hydroxylamine andBF3-OEt2, achieving 78-94% yields (eq 39). ... 

The importance of amino-nitriles is reflected in the number of reports in which they have appeared. Previous reports of a-amino-nitrile synthesis from a-silyloxynitriles and amines have been supplemented by a reported situ preparation of these intermediates by treatment of aldehydes and ketones with cyanotrimethy1-... 

As improvements over P-methylumbeUiferone (55—57), 4-methyl-7-amino-coumarin [26093-31-2] (12a) and 7-dimethylamino-4-methylcoumarin [87-014] (12b) (58—61) were proposed. These compounds are used for brightening wool and nylon either in soap powders or detergents, or as salts under acid dyeing conditions. They are obtained by the Pechmaim synthesis from appropriately substituted phenols and P-ketocarboxyflc acid esters or nitriles in the presence of Lewis acid catalysts (see Coumarin). 

Synthesis from Thiohydantoins. A modification (71) of the Bucherer-Bergs reaction consisting of treatment of an aldehyde or ketone with carbon disulfide, ammonium chloride, and sodium cyanide affords 2,4-dithiohydantoias (19). 4-Thiohydantoias (20) are available from reaction of amino nitriles with carbon disulfide (72). Compounds (19) and (20) can be transformed iato hydantoias. 

Ring Synthesis From Nonheterocyclic Compounds. These methods may be further classified based on the number of bonds formed during the pyridine ring formation. Synthesis of a-picoline (2) from 5-oxohexanenitrile is a one-bond formation reaction (eq. 16) (49). The nitrile is obtained by reaction between acetone and acrylonitrile (50). If both reaction steps are considered together, the synthesis must be considered a two-bond forming one, ie, formation of (2) from acetone and acrylonitrile in a single step comes under the category of two-bond formation reaction. 

Oxazole synthesis from benzoin and nitriles or ammonium formate. 

Finally, the condensation of unsaturated compounds with fulminates known as the fulminic synthesis represents the simplest case of synthesis from nitrile oxides. Barnes has reviewed in detail the work carried out up to 1953 thus we shall be concerned here only wdth more recent publications or those of general interest. 

Nitriles react with alcohols in the presence of hydrochloric acid to form iminoester hydrochlorides, which are hydrolyzed to the esters (Pinner synthesis). Heitz and coworkers [21-23] published several fine papers on the polyazoester synthesis from the reaction of a series of poly(oxyethylene) glycol or poly(oxypropylene) glycol and AIBN in the presence of dry hydrochloric acid at 0-5°C according to Pinner synthesis. Condensation reactions of ACPC and dihydroxy terminated poly(oxy-ethylene) glycol yield polyazoesters [24,25]. 

Both methods of nitrile synthesis—SN2 displacement by CN- on an alkyl halide and amide dehydration—are useful, but the synthesis from amides is more general because it is not limited by steric hindrance. 

In the context of pyridin synthesis from alkynes and nitriles homogeneously catalyzed by (cyclopentadienyl)cobalt complexes (Eq. 13), it was found that electron-withdrawing groups on the cyclopentadienyl ring significantly increase the activity [63]. During the screening of various cobalt half-sandwich complexes... 

Aldoximes are prepared from aldehydes and hydroxylamine by condensation reaction, and the dehydration reaction of aldoxime is one of the most important methods of nitrile synthesis in organic chemistry." We speculated that it would become one of the most important examples in Green Chemistry if the dehydration reaction could be realized by an enzymatic method, and started studies on a new enzyme, aldoxime dehydratase, and its use in enzymatic nitrile synthesis. Furthermore, we clarified the relationship between aldoxime dehydratase and nitrile-degrading enzymes in the genome of the microorganisms and the physiological role of the enzyme. 

Actually, nitronates are the closest related derivatives of nitronic acids, that is, aci forms of AN, which exist in labile equilibrium with true AN. Some derivatives of nitronic acids, —CH=N(0)0X, where OX is the good leaving group, are evident intermediates in the most well-developed procedures for the synthesis of nitrile oxides from primary AN. In this chapter, special emphasis is given to particular nitronates, which are generated from a-functionalized AN and can also be considered as precursors of a-functionalized nitrile oxides. 

Catalytic asymmetric cyanide addition to imines constitutes an important C—C bondforming reaction, as the product amino nitriles may be converted to non-proteogenic a-amino acids. Kobayashi and co-workers have developed two different versions of the Zr-catalyzed amino nitrile synthesis [73]. The first variant is summarized in Scheme 6.22. The bimetallic complex 65, formed from two molecules of 6-Br-binol and one molecule of 2-Br-binol in the presence of two molecules of Zr(OtBu)4 and N-methylimidazole, was proposed as the active catalytic species. This hypothesis was based on various NMR studies more rigorous kinetic data are not as yet available. Nonetheless, as depicted in Scheme 6.22, reaction of o-hydroxyl imine 66 with 5 mol% 65 and 1—1.5 equiv. Bu3SnCN (CH2C12, —45 °C) leads to the formation of amino nitrile 67 with 91 % ee and in 92 % isolated yield. As is also shown in Scheme 6.22, electron-withdrawing (— 68) and electron-rich (—> 69), as well as more sterically hindered aryl substituents (— 70) readily undergo asymmetric cyanide addition. 

The production of optically active cyanohydrins, with nitrile and alcohol functional groups that can each be readily derivatized, is an increasingly significant organic synthesis method. Hydroxynitrile lyase (HNL) enzymes have been shown to be very effective biocatalysts for the formation of these compounds from a variety of aldehyde and aliphatic ketone starting materials.Recent work has also expanded the application of HNLs to the asymmetric production of cyanohydrins from aromatic ketones. In particular, commercially available preparations of these enzymes have been utilized for high ee (5)-cyanohydrin synthesis from phenylacetones with a variety of different aromatic substitutions (Figure 8.1). 

Nanda, S., Kato, Y. and Asano, Y., A new (i )-hydroxy-nitrile lyase from Prunus mume asymmetric synthesis of cyanohydrins. Tetrahedron, 2005, 61, 10908. 

The ease of the Strecker synthesis from aldehydes makes a-aminonitriles an attractive and important route to a-amino acids. Fortunately, the microbial world offers a number of enzymes for carrying out the necessary conversions, some of them highly stereoselective. Nitrilases catalyze a direct conversion of nitrile into carboxylic acid (Equation (11)), whereas nitrile hydratases catalyze formation of the amide, which can then be hydrolyzed to the carboxylic acid in a second step (Equation (12)). In a recent survey, with a view to bioremediation and synthesis, Brady et al have surveyed the ability of a wide range of bacteria and yeasts to grow on diverse nitriles and amides as sole nitrogen source. This provides a rich source of information on enzymes for future application. 

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