Process for the cyanation of aldehydes

摘要

A process for cyanating an aldehyde is provided. The process comprises reacting the aldehyde with: i) a cyanide source which does not comprise a Si-CN bond or a C-(C=O)-CN moiety; and ii) a substrate susceptible to nucleophilic attack not comprising a halogen leaving group; in the presence of a chiral catalyst. Preferably, the chiral catalyst is a chiral vanadium or titanium catalyst. The cyanide source is preferably an alkali metal cyanide and the substrate susceptible to nucleophilic attack not comprising a halogen leaving group is a carboxylic anhydride.