Electrochemical synthesis of nitriles from aldehydes using TEMPO as a mediator

A novel electrochemical route to generate nitriles from aldehydes under mild conditions using a catalytic amount of TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxy) as the mediator and hexamethyldisilazane as the nitrogen source in the presence of acetic acid has been developed. A variety of aromatic, heteroaromatic and aliphatic aldehydes have been converted to their corresponding nitriles in good to excellent yields. A plausible reaction mechanism is proposed based on the cyclic voltammetry, in situ FTIR and the identification of intermediates. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.