Dehydration of aldoximes to nitriles using trichloroacetonitrile without catalyst

Abstract

Trichloroacetonitrile has been found to be an efficient dehydrating agent for a range of aldoximes including aromatic and heterocyclic aldoxime yielding the corresponding nitriles in moderate to good yields. The dehydration reactions can take place in non-acetonitrile media without the aid of a metal catalyst. In addition, it has been confirmed that trichloroacetonitrile was converted into trichloroacetamide in the reaction.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Nitrile
• aldoxime
• trichloroacetonitrile
• toluene
• trichloroacetamide

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Construction Project of Key Laboratories from the Education Department of Guizhou Province [Grant No. QJHKY[2018]001] and the Construction Project of First-class Courses from Guizhou Education University [Grant No. GSYF[2018]100].