Of cyanohydrin

The allylic geminal diacetate 141 undergoes the monoallylation of malonates to give 142 and the two regioisomers 143 and 144[93,94]. The dimethylacetal 145 or ortho esters of aromatic and a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds react with trimethylsilyl cyanide to give the methyl ether of cyanohydrin[95]. 

DiaminO 4,4-dimethyl-l,3,5-thiadiazine hydrobromide was isolated as by-product (418). Benzene sulfonates of cyanohydrin prepared from sodium cyanide and an halobenzoaldehyde, when treated with thiourea or its derivatives, afford 2,4-diamino-5-(p-halogenophenyl)-thiazole benzene sulfonates (447). Similarly, cyanoamido thiocarbamates obtained from cyanamide and isothiocyanates yield substituted 2,4-diaminothiazoles (598). 

Cyanohydrin formation is reversible and the position of equilibrium depends on the steric and electronic factors governing nucleophilic addition to carbonyl groups described m the preceding section Aldehydes and unhindered ketones give good yields of cyanohydrins... 

A few cyanohydrins and ethers of cyanohydrins occur naturally One species of millipede stores benzaldehyde cyanohydrin along with an enzyme that catalyzes its cleavage to benzaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide m separate compartments above its legs When attacked the insect ejects a mixture of the cyanohydrin and the enzyme repelling the invader by spraying it with hydrogen cyanide... 

The outstanding chemical property of cyanohydrins is the ready conversion to a-hydroxy acids and derivatives, especially a-amino and a,P-unsaturated acids. Because cyanohydrins are primarily used as chemical intermediates, data on production and prices are not usually pubUshed. The industrial significance of cyanohydrins is waning as more direct and efficient routes to the desired products are developed. Acetone cyanohydrin is the world s most prominent industrial cyanohydrin because it offers the main route to methyl methacrylate manufacture. 

Reaction of cyanohydrins with absolute ethanol in the presence of HCl yields the ethyl esters of a-hydroxy acids (3). A/-substituted amides can be synthesized by heating a cyanohydrin and an amine in water. Thus formaldehyde cyanohydrin and P-hydroxyethylamine lead to A/- (P-hydroxyethyl)hydroxyacetamide (4). 

Catalytic hydrogenation of the nitrile function of cyanohydrins can give amines. As in the case of ordinary nitriles, catalytic reduction of cyanohydrins can yield a mixture of primary, secondary, and tertiary amines. Addition of acid or acetic anhydride to the reaction medium minimizes formation of secondary or tertiary amines through formation of the amine salt or acetamide derivative of the primary amine. 

Hydroxyl Group. The OH group of cyanohydrins is subject to displacement with other electronegative groups. Cyanohydrins react with ammonia to yield amino nitriles. This is a step in the Strecker synthesis of amino acids. A one-step synthesis of a-amino acids involves treatment of cyanohydrins with ammonia and ammonium carbonate under pressure. Thus acetone cyanohydrin, when heated at 160°C with ammonia and ammonium carbonate for 6 h, gives a-aminoisobutyric acid [62-57-7] in 86% yield (7). Primary and secondary amines can also be used to displace the hydroxyl group to obtain A/-substituted and Ai,A/-disubstituted a-amino nitriles. The Strecker synthesis can also be appHed to aromatic ketones. Similarly, hydrazine reacts with two molecules of cyanohydrin to give the disubstituted hydrazine. 

Cyanohydrins react with hydrogen haUdes or PCl to give a-halo nitriles which can be further hydrolyzed to the a-halo carboxyUc acids. The a-hydroxy group of cyanohydrins can be esterified with an acid or acid chloride. Dehydration of cyanohydrins with phosphoms pentoxide gives >80% yields of alkylacrylonitriles (8). 

Table 3. Equilibrium Constants for Formation of Cyanohydrins from Hydrogen Cyanide Plus Carbonyl Compounds ...

Production of cyanohydrins is accompHshed through the base-cataly2ed combination of hydrogen cyanide and the carbonyl compound in a solvent, usually the cyanohydrin itself (17). The reaction is carried out at high dilution of the feeds, at 10—15°C, and pH 6.5—7.5. The product is continuously removed from the reaction 2one, cooled to push the equilibrium toward cyanohydrin formation, and then stabili2ed with mineral acid. Purification is usually effected by distillation. 

Cyanohydrins are highly toxic by inhalation or ingestion, and moderately toxic through skin absorption (21). AH a-hydroxy nitriles are potential sources of hydrogen cyanide or cyanides and must be handled with considerable caution. Contact with the skin and inhalation should be rigorously avoided. Special protective clothing should be worn and any exposure should be avoided (18,20). The area should be adequately ventilated. Immediate medical attention is essential in case of cyanohydrin poisoning. 

Table 10. Synthesis of Cyanohydrins by Oxynitrilase-Catalyzed Transacylation...

Silylated cyanohydrins have also been prepared via silylation of cyanohydrins themselves and by the addition of hydrogen cyanide to silyl enol ethers. Silylated cyanohydrins have proved to be quite useful in a variety of synthetic transformations, including the regiospecific protection of p-quinones, as intermediates in an efficient synthesis of a-aminomethyl alcohols, and for the preparation of ketone cyanohydrins themselves.The silylated cyanohydrins of heteroaromatic aldehydes have found extensive use as... 

Hydroxy-B-homo-5a-cholestan-7-one acetate (54b) A solution of 3/3-hydroxy-5a-cholestan-7-one acetate (51b 5 g mp 146-148°) in dioxane-ethanol (100 ml, 1 1) is placed in a 250 ml three-necked flask equipped with a mechanical stirrer and thermometer and is cooled to 0° (iee-salt bath). Powdered potassium cyanide (7.3 g) is added portionwise with stirring. Acetic acid (8 ml) is then added dropwise with constant stirring over 30 min. The resultant mixture is stirred for 1 hr at 0° C and for an additional 2 hr at room temperature. It is then poured into ice water (200 g ice, 100 ml water) and after standing for 1 hr the precipitate is collected by filtration. The product is dissolved in ether (100 ml), the ether solution is washed with 5% sodium bicarbonate, water and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The filtrate is evaporated at reduced pressure and the solid residue (5.1 g) is crystallized from ethyl acetate (30 ml) to yield 2.8 g of cyanohydrin (52b) mp 160-164° repeated crystallization from the same solvent gives a product mp 164-167°. An alternative method of isolation of the cyanohydrin is used when 100 g or larger quantities are worked up. The reaction mixture is poured directly into a mixture of ice water and sodium bicarbonate, the precipitate (mp 155-156°) is washed well with water, dried and used directly for the next step. 

The enhanced reactivity of fluoroalkyl ketones is also manifested in the failure to stop the reaction with hydrogen cyanide at the stage of cyanohydrins Instead, oxazohdinones or dioxolanones are formed (equation 11) If, however, the reaction IS conducted under basic conditions with sodium bisulfite and sodium cyanide, the desired cyanohydrin can be prepared [ll ... 

The cyanohydrin of methyl perfluoroheptyl ketone was synthesized by a two-step process addition of sodium bisulfite and subsequent treatment with sodium cyanide. When the ketone was reacted with sodium cyanide, cyclic addition products were obtained, instead of the product of cyanohydrin formation. This result was attributed to the solubility characteristic of a long perfluoroalkyl group, which makes the compound less soluble in water and polar organic solvents [54] (equation 40) (Table 14). 

Equilibrium constants for the dissociation of cyanohydrins according to the equation... 

Hydroxynitrile lyase can be used for the decomposition of cyanohydrins with some level of enantioselectivity. " ... 

In a German patent issued in 1929, Bergs described a synthesis of some 5-substituted hydantoins by treatment of aldehydes or ketones (1) with potassium cyanide, ammonium carbonate, and carbon dioxide under several atmospheres of pressure at 80°C. In 1934, Bucherer et al. isolated a hydantoin derivative as a by-product in their preparation of cyanohydrin from cyclohexanone. They subsequently discovered that hydantoins could also be formed from the reaction of cyanohydrins (e.g. 3) and ammonium carbonate at room temperature or 60-70°C either in water or in benzene. The use of carbon dioxide under pressure was not necessary for the reaction to take place. Bucherer and Lieb later found that the reaction proceeded in 50% aqueous ethanol in excellent yields for ketones and good yields for aldehydes. ... 

Reaction of cyanohydrin 4 with ammonia leads to formation of a-amino nitrile 2, which can easily be hydrolyzed to give the corresponding a-amino acid 3 ... 

The optical purities were determined solely from the optical rotations of the (/ -cyanohydrins thus obtained. Only for (/ )-a-hydroxybcnzeneacetonitrile, available from benzaldehyde, was an optical purity determined by comparison with the natural product. Variation of the reaction conditions (pH, temperature, concentration) in water/ethanol led to no appreciable improvementsl4. The use of organic solvents that are not miscible with water, but in which the enzyme-catalyzed reaction can still take place, resulted in suppression of the spontaneous addition to a significant extent, whereas the enzyme-catalyzed formation of cyanohydrins was only slightly slower (Figure l)13. 

Recently, the enantioselective addition of hydrocyanic acid to aldehydes, analogous to the synthesis of (/ )-cyanohydrins, yielding (.S)-cyanohydrins in very high optical purity, with (S )-oxynitrilase as catalyst, was reported20,21. 

Racemization of some substrates can take place through reversible formation of the substrate via an addition/elimination process. The racemization can be acid or base catalyzed. In this section we vill discuss DKR of cyanohydrins and hemithioacetals. 

Several reports on DKR of cyanohydrins have been developed using this methodology The unstable nature of cyanohydrins allows continuous racemization through reversible elimination/addition of HCN under basic conditions. The lipase-catalyzed KR in the presence of an acyl donor yields cyanohydrin acetates, which are not racemized under the reaction conditions. 

Kanerva et al. have also reported DKR of cyanohydrins [47]. In particular, they obtained very good results with C. antartica lipase A (CAL-A) as the catalyst for the KR of a variety of substrates for which other enzymes such as CALB or PS-C do not give good results (Figure 4.22) [47a[. 

Burk and coworkers have used a variety of nitrilases for the DKR of cyanohydrins [48]. Nitrilases catalyze the hydrolytic conversion of cyanohydrins directly to the corresponding carboxylic acids. Racemization was performed under basic conditions (phosphate buffer, pH 8) through reversible loss of HCN. (R)-Mandelic acid was obtained in high yield (86% yield) and high enantioselectivity (98% ee) after 3 hours (Figure 4.23). 

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