A Practical and Cost-Efficient, One-Pot Conversion of Aldehydes into Nitriles Mediated by 'Activated DMSO'

Participation of 'activated DMSO' in the one-pot transformation of aldehydes to nitriles has been described by reacting aldehydes with NH(2)OH center dot HCl in DMSO in the absence of any added base or catalyst. The method is applicable to access a wide range of aromatic, heterocyclic, and aliphatic nitriles, in which only water is a byproduct. A straightforward and practical procedure is demonstrated on a multigram scale.