“…The resulting α,β-dicyanopropanoates are valuable intermediates for the synthesis of medicines and can be readily transformed into acids, esters, amides and amines (Rappoport, 1970). To date, many cyanating reagents have been used as additions to α,β-unsaturated esters, such as HCN (Griffiths et al, 1991), KCN (Aizencang et al, 1995;Sammelson et al, 2004), NaCN (Das et al, 2008;Rajib et al, 2012), TMSCN (Mazet & Jacobsen, 2008;Sammis et al, 2004), CNCOOEt (Wang et al, 2010) and acetone cyanohydrins (Wakita et al, 1990). However, some problems continue to be associated with the use of the existing cyanating reagents, including strong toxicity for KCN and NaCN, volatility for HCN, instability for acetone cyanohydrins, and moisture sensibility for TMSCN and CNCOOEt.…”