Iron‐Catalyzed Alkylation of Nitriles with Alcohols

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

A general, efficient iron‐catalyzed α‐alkylation of nitriles with primary alcohols through a hydrogen‐borrowing pathway has been developed, allowing a wide variety of alkylated nitriles to be readily accessible. Detailed mechanistic studies suggest that the reaction proceeds via an olefin intermediate with the turnover rate limited by the hydrogenation of the olefin with an iron hydride. Apart from participating in the alkylation, the nitrile is found to play an important role in promoting the formation of and stabilizing the active catalytic species.
You need to borrow some hydrogen? A Fe‐PNP pincer complex catalyzes efficient α‐alkylation of nitriles with primary alcohols through a hydrogen‐borrowing pathway, with the turnover rate limited by the reduction of the olefin intermediate. The nitriles are important not only as a substrate but also as a stabilizing compound for the active Fe−H species.