Efficient solvent-free selective monoalkylation of arylacetonitriles with mono-, bis-, and tris-primary alcohols catalyzed by a Cp* Ir complex

C Löfberg, R Grigg, MA Whittaker, A Keep…

Index: Loefberg, Christian; Grigg, Ronald; Whittaker, Mark A.; Keep, Ann; Derrick, Andrew Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2006 , vol. 71, # 21 p. 8023 - 8027

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Citation Number: 69

Abstract

Our objectives were to develop catalytic atom-economic processes accessing and/or incorporating versatile functionality using aryl/heteroaryl acetonitriles as substrates. We report essentially solvent-free [Cp* IrCl2] 2 catalyzed redox neutral processes whereby substituted acetonitriles react with primary alcohols to deliver monosubstituted aryl/heteroaryl acetonitriles in excellent yield. We further demonstrate that such processes ...