N‐Methylmorpholine N‐Oxide: A Rare Nonmetallic Catalyst for the Most Efficient Silylcyanation of Aldehydes

Abstract

An efficient method of addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide (TMSCN) to aldehydes by employing N‐methylmorpholine N‐oxide (NMO) alone as the catalyst has been described. Most of aromatic, aliphatic, cyclic, and heterocyclic aldehydes have been converted into their corresponding trimethylsilyl ethers in excellent yield within 10‐min period. The mechanism of silylcyanation reaction has been also described.

Keywords:

• NMO
• Aldehydes
• TMSCN
• Silylcyanation

Acknowledgments

The authors warmly thank Korea Science and Engineering Foundation for the financial support (R01‐2001‐00057). One of us (G. R.) thanks the Management, Correspondent, Principal, and HOD, Chemistry of Crescent Engineering College, Chennai, India for permitting him to do PDF research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gurusamy Rajagopal

Dr. G. Rajagopal is a Brain Pool Scientist from Dept of Chemistry, Crescent Engineering College, Chennai 600 048, India and is assisted by a grant from the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies and Korea Science and Engineering Foundation.