Synthesis,molecular structure,and absolute configuration of 1-α-pheitylethyl-3-(2-cyanoethyl)-4-piperidone

The Michael addition of acrylonitrile to the pyrrolidine enamine of 1-(S--phenyl-ethyl)-4-piperidone proceeds with the formation of. a 1:1 mixture of l-(S--phenyl ethyl)-3-(2-cyanoethyl)-4-piperidone diastereomers. A diastereomer isolated in pure form was shown by x-ray diffraction structural analysis to have S-configuration of the new chiral center at C₍₃₎ of the piperidone ring.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 12, pp, 1656–1662, December, 1985.