Discussion We were interested in determining what effect the addition of aliphatic nitriles to the acid-catalyzed rearrangement of y-lactone 6 would have on the equilibrium mixture of carbocatians depicted in Scheme I and in particular whether the Ritter3 adduct corresponding to cation 17 could be obtained preferentially. In the event, sulfuric acid catalyzed rearrangement of 6 in the presence of acetonitrile gave a mixture of amide acids ...