Direct cyanation, hydrocyanation, dicyanation and cyanofunctionalization of alkynes

Cyanation of alkynes was highlighted. Direct cyanation and hydrocyanation gave alkynyl cyanides and alkenyl nitriles. Dicyanation produced 1,2-dicyano adducts. Cyanofunctionalization afforded functional cyano compounds.

Bacterial Consortiums Able to Use Metal-Cyanide Complexes as a Nitrogen Source

Most cyanide-containing industrial effluents also contain other cyano-derivatives and high amounts of metals and metal-cyanide compounds. For this reason, the biotreatment of these wastes requires the use of microorganisms capable to degrade all these different cyano-compounds and to tolerate metals. Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT 5344 is a cyanotrophic bacterium capable of metabolize cyanide in its free form, but it is not very efficient at degrading metal-cyanide complexes. Therefore, for the optimization of the cyanide biodegradation process it is essential to find and characterize new bacterial strains, capable of assimilating metal cyanide-complexes, to complement the capacities of P. pseudoalcaligenes CECT 5344.

Michael Addition of Imidazole to α, β -Unsaturated Carbonyl/Cyano Compound

Introduction: Aza-Michael addition is an important reaction for carbon-nitrogen bond formation in synthetic organic chemistry. Expalantion: Conjugate addition of imidazole to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl/cyano compounds provides significant numbers of the biologically and synthetically interesting products, such as β-amino acids and β-lactams, which have attracted great attention for their use as key intermediates of anticancer agents, antibiotics and other drugs. Conclusion: This review addresses most significant method for the synthesis of N-substituted imidazole derivatives following Michael addition reaction of imidazole to α,β-unsaturated carbonyl/cyano compounds using ionic liquid/base/acid/enzyme as catalysts from year 2007-2017.

Highly efficient asymmetric hydrogenation of cyano-substituted acrylate esters for synthesis of chiral γ-lactams and amino acids

A highly efficient Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of 3-cyano acrylate esters is reported for the first time, which provides straightforward access to chiral cyano compounds with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 98% ee) and high turnover numbers (TON up to 10 000).