title: Efficient solvent-free selective monoalkylation of arylacetonitriles with mono-, bis-, and tris-primary alcohols catalyzed by a Cp*Ir complex.
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 can be achieved by conventional or microwave heating and that bis- and tris-primary alcohols are also processed efficiently.
authors.affiliation: Molecular, Innovation, Diversity, and Automated Synthesis Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Löfberg
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grigg
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Whittaker
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keep
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Derrick
mesh_terms: D000097:Acetonitriles / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000097:Acetonitriles