The reaction of nitriles with Grignard reagents is a widely applicable synthetic route to ketimines, which by facile hydrolysis give ketones. However, this reaction suffers some limitations. With aliphatic nitriles, a serious complication arises due to the acidity of the a- hydrogen atom. If strongly basic solvents are used, they compete with the nitrile in formation of an organomagnesium complex. If organolithium reagents are used instead of Grignard ...
