Iron-Catalyzed Dehydration of Aldoximes to Nitriles Requiring Neither Other Reagents Nor Nitrile Media

• Published in: Chemistry, an Asian journal an Asian journal, 2016-05, Vol.11 (9), p.1348-1352
• Main Authors: Hyodo, Kengo, Kitagawa, Saki, Yamazaki, Masayuki, Uchida, Kingo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aldehydes; aldoximes; Catalysis; Chemistry; dehydration; Iron - chemistry; iron catalyst; Molecular Structure; nitrile synthesis; Nitriles - chemical synthesis; Nitriles - chemistry; Oximes - chemistry
• ISSN: 1861-4728; 1861-471X
• DOI: 10.1002/asia.201600085

The dehydration of aldoximes is an environmentally benign reaction affording the desired nitrile and water as a by‐product. However, most of the reported catalytic dehydration reactions of aldoximes require a solvent containing nitrile to synthesize the corresponding nitrile compounds. Inspired by recent reports on the enzymatic synthesis under nitrile‐free conditions, we here describe that a simple iron salt catalyzes the dehydration of aldoximes requiring neither other reagents nor nitrile media. Our method can be applied to the one‐pot synthesis of nitiriles from aldehydes. Dehydration causes: The dehydration of aldoximes is an environmentally benign reaction affording the desired nitrile and water as a by‐product. However, most of the reported catalytic dehydration reactions of aldoximes require a solvent containing nitrile to synthesize the corresponding nitrile compounds. Inspired by recent reports on the enzymatic synthesis under nitrile‐free conditions, here a simple iron salt‐catalyzed dehydration of aldoximes requiring neither other reagents nor nitrile media is reported.