Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of O-acetyl cyanohydrins from KCN, Ac2O and aldehydes.
A (salen)titanium catalyst has been found to induce the asymmetric addition of potassium cyanide and acetic anhydride to aldehydes, giving enantiomerically enriched cyanohydrin esters with up to 92% enantiomeric excess using just 1 mol% of the catalyst. This is the first report of the asymmetric synthesis of cyanohydrin derivatives using a cyanide source which is non-volatile and inexpensive.
A.N. Nesmeyanov Institute of Organo-Element Compounds Russian Academy of Sciences 119991, Moscow, Vavilov 28, Russia. yubel@ineos.ac.ru
Yuri N
YN
Belokon
Andrey V
AV
Gutnov
Margarita A
MA
Moskalenko
Lidia V
LV
Yashkina
Denis E
DE
Lesovoy
Nicolai S
NS
Ikonnikov
Vladimir S
VS
Larichev
Michael
M
North