Dehydroxylative Cyanation of Alcohols Promoted by Triphenyphosphine/1,2-Diiodoethane

A Ph3P/ICH2CH2I-promoted dehydroxylative cyanation of alcohols has been developed. In contrast to previous dehydroxylative cyanation methods that can suffer from several limitations, such as the use of transition metals or moisture-sensitive Lewis acids, this protocol features convenient operations, mild reaction conditions, and the use of cheap and widely available reagents.

Automated summary

A Ph3P/ICH2CH2I-promoted dehydroxylative cyanation of alcohols has been developed, which offers convenient operations, mild reaction conditions, and the use of cheap and widely available reagents, avoiding the limitations of previous methods that involve transition metals or moisture-sensitive Lewis acids.