Pd‐catalyzed direct CH cyanation of picolinamides via bidentate chelation assistance

A bidentate‐chelation assistant palladium‐catalyzed direct C‐H cyanation of picolinamides with TMSCN is described. The reaction of various derivatives gave the corresponding cyanated products in moderate to good yields under mild conditions. In addition, the cyanated product could transform into some valuable functional groups in good yields. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

General and Practical Formation of Thiocyanates from Thiols

A new method for the cyanation of thiols and disulfides using cyanobenziodoxol(on)e hypervalent iodine reagents is described. Both aliphatic and aromatic thiocyanates can be accessed in good yields in a few minutes at room temperature starting from a broad range of thiols with high chemioselectivity. The complete conversion of disulfides to thiocyanates was also possible. Preliminary computational studies indicated a low energy concerted transition state for the cyanation of the thiolate anion or radical. The developed thiocyanate synthesis has broad potential for various applications in synthetic chemistry, chemical biology and materials science.     

Visible‐Light‐Induced Photoredox Catalysis with a Tetracerium‐Containing Silicotungstate

The development of visible‐light‐induced photocatalysts for chemoselective functional group transformations has received considerable attention. Polyoxometalates (POMs) are potential materials for efficient photocatalysts because their properties can be precisely tuned by changing their constituent elements and structures and by the introduction of additional metal cations. Furthermore, they are thermally and oxidatively more stable than the frequently utilized organometallic complexes. The visible‐light‐responsive tetranuclear cerium(III)‐containing silicotungstate TBA₆[{Ce(H₂O)}₂{Ce(CH₃CN)}₂(μ₄‐O)(γ‐SiW₁₀O₃₆)₂] (CePOM; TBA=tetra‐n‐butylammonium) has now been synthesized; when CePOM was irradiated with visible light (λ>400 nm), a unique intramolecular Ce^III‐to‐POM(W^VI) charge transfer was observed. With CePOM, the photocatalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of primary and secondary amines as well as the α‐cyanation of tertiary amines smoothly proceeded in the presence of O₂ (1 atm) as the sole oxidant.     

Copper‐Catalyzed Cyanations of Aromatic Bromides with Benzoyl Cyanide

Aromatic nitriles were synthesized through copper‐catalyzed cyanations of aromatic bromides using benzoyl cyanide as the cyanide source. A series of functional groups were tolerated under the reaction conditions to provide the products in good yields. Moreover, this protocol avoids using of highly toxic alkali cyanides and expensive palladium catalysts.     

Palladium-catalyzed enantioselective domino heck-cyanation sequence: development and application to the total synthesis of esermethole and physostigmine

An efficient synthesis of functionalized 3-alkyl-3-cyanomethyl-2-oxindole 1 by a palladium-catalyzed domino Heck-cyanation reaction has been developed. Reaction of ortho-iodoanilide 5 with potassium ferro(II)cyanide, K(4)[Fe(CN)(6)], dissolved in DMF in the presence of palladium acetate and sodium carbonate afforded oxindole 1 in good to excellent yields. An enantioselective domino Heck-cyanation process has been developed for the first time using (S)-DIFLUORPHOS as a chiral supporting ligand, and an enantioselectivity of up to 79 % ee in the enantiomerically enriched oxindole was obtained under optimized conditions. A concise total synthesis of esermethole and physostigmine, powerful inhibitors of acetyl- and butyryl-cholinesterase, is documented.     

Highly active recyclable heterogeneous nanonickel ferrite catalyst for cyanation of aryl and heteroaryl halides

Magnetic nickel ferrite nanoparticles are found to be an efficient catalytic system for cyanation reactions of various types of aryl halides under conventional heating conditions. All the reactions result in very good to excellent yields under optimized reaction conditions. Furthermore, the catalyst is easily removed from the reaction medium and can be reused further in several subsequent runs. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.