Sulfur-Enabled Dehydrogenative Transformation of Phenylacetonitriles to α-Iminonitriles with Aliphatic Amines
Nisha Patel1, Krimi Patel1, Geeta Rathva1
1Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Indrashil University, Rajpur, Mehsana, Gujarat 382715, India.
Abstract:
Herein, we disclose an efficient synthesis of α-iminonitriles facilitated by elemental sulfur through the dehydrogenative transformation of phenylacetonitriles with aliphatic amines. This useful strategy for α-iminonitriles operates at low temperature with a broader substrate scope, furnishing synthetically useful compounds in very good to excellent yields. Mechanistic investigations and observations from the literature suggest that the reaction proceeds via a dehydrogenative dithiolation sequence. Gram-scale synthesis and further synthetic transformation demonstrate the synthetic efficacy and utility of the developed protocol.
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