No abstract

Transition-metal-catalyzed C–H bond addition to nitriles has emerged as a powerful synthetic approach for the construction of C–C bonds in organic synthesis. Due to the merits of atom- and step-economy, as well the easy availability of the starting materials, these transformations not only deliver acyclic aryl ketone products with nitriles­ as C-building blocks, but can also be utilized for the highly efficient­ assembly of azaheterocyclic skeletons using nitriles as C–N building blocks. This short review summarizes recent progress on transition-metal-catalyzed C–C bond-forming reactions based on C(sp2)–H and C(sp3)–H additions to nitriles.1 Introduction2 Palladium-Catalyzed C–H Addition to Nitriles2.1 Palladium-Catalyzed C–H Addition to Nitriles for the Preparation of Ketone (Imine) Products2.2 Palladium-Catalyzed C–H Addition to Nitriles for the Preparation of Azaheterocycles2.3 Palladium-Catalyzed C–H Addition to Nitriles/1,2-Rearangement3 Other Transition-Metal-Catalyzed C–H Additions to Nitriles4 Summary and Outlook

An efficient construction of oxazoline-containing polycyclic scaffolds through a Pd-catalyzed addition/cyclization of (hetero)arene tethered O-acyl cyanohydrin units and arylboronic acids is described.