Environmentally friendly room temperature Strecker reaction:: One-pot synthesis of α-aminonitriles in ionic liquid

A three component efficient and facile procedure is developed for the synthesis of alpha-aminonitriles from aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes, amines, and trimethylsilyl cyanide in 1-butyl-3-methyl-1H-imidazolium perchlorate ([bmim][ClO4]) ionic liquid as the reaction medium at room temperature. Excellent yields are obtained in this one-pot procedure with short reaction times and the ionic liquid medium reused several times in a row.