Lewis Base-Promoted Rearrangement of Allylic Cyanohydrins: Construction of Functionalized Nitriles Bearing 1,3-Diketone Moieties

A novel Lewis base-promoted rearrangement of allylic cyanohydrins has been developed, in which the cyano group was rearranged, directly coupled with the generation of new functional groups. This protocol provides a unique and facile way to prepare highly functionalized nitriles bearing 1,3-diketone moieties under mild reaction conditions. Furthermore, the synthetic transformations of the functionalized products have also been demonstrated.