Efficient and selective nitrile hydration reactions in water catalyzed by an unexpected dimethylsulfinyl anion generated in situ from CsOH and DMSO

H Chen, W Dai, Y Chen, Q Xu, J Chen, L Yu, Y Zhao…

Index: Chen, Haonan; Dai, Wujie; Chen, Yi; Xu, Qing; Chen, Jianhui; Yu, Lei; Zhao, Yajuan; Ye, Mingde; Pan, Yuanjiang Green Chemistry, 2014 , vol. 16, # 4 p. 2136 - 2141

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Citation Number: 22

Abstract

Unexpected dimethylsulfinyl anions (I), generated in situ from the superbase system CsOH– DMSO, was found to be a highly active catalyst for controllable nitrile hydration reactions in water, which selectively afforded the versatile amides via interesting Cs-activated I-catalyzed direct and indirect hydration mechanisms involving an O-transfer process from DMSO onto the nitriles.