Synthesis 2020; 52(20): 3077-3085
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1707184
paper
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Functional Group Interconversion of Alkylidenemalononitriles to Primary Alcohols by a Cooperative Redox Operation

Fabien Emmetiere
,
Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, PO Box 117200, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA   eMail: grenning@ufl.edu
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1844443. We thank the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida for start-up funds. We thank the Mass Spectrometry Research and Education Center and their funding source: NIH S10 OD021758-01A1.
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Publikationsverlauf

Received: 11. Mai 2020

Accepted after revision: 09. Juni 2020

Publikationsdatum:
21. Juli 2020 (online)


Abstract

Functional group interconversions are essential chemical processes enabling synthesis. In this report, we describe a strategy to convert alkylidenemalononitriles into primary alcohols in one step. The reaction relies on a choreographed redox process involving alkylidene reduction, malononitrile oxidation, and acylcyanide reduction where molecular oxygen and NaBH4 work cooperatively. The method was applied to a variety of carbon skeletons and was utilized to synthesize complex terpenoid architectures.

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