An ovel synthetic protocol for N-aryl-b-enaminonitriles,w hich are useful building blocks for heterocycle synthesis, was developed using isocyanides as the nitrogen source.U sing copper-catalyzed one-stepr eactions between isocyanides and benzyl cyanidesu nder mild conditions,d iverse N-aryl-b-enaminonitriles could be synthesizedi ne xcellent yields and with high atom-efficiency. N-Alkyl-b-enaminonitriles were also synthesizedi ng ood yields. Am echanism involving an imidoyl-copper intermediate was proposedb ased on mechanistic studies and previous reports. In addition,w ed emonstrated that as ynthesized N-aryl-b-enaminonitrile could be utilized for the synthesiso fab -keto nitrile compound and3 -aminopyrazole.