Trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate as a metal-free, homogeneous and strong lewis acid catalyst for efficient one-pot synthesis of α-aminonitriles and their fluorinated analogues

One-pot three-component Strecker reaction of ketones/ fluorinated ketones for the preparation of a-aminonitriles/Ouorinated a-aminonitriles has been achieved using trimethylsilyl trifluoroi-nethanesulfonate [(CH3)(3)SiOSO2CF3, TMSOTf)] as a metalfree strong Lewis acid catalyst. These reactions are simple and clean, giving the products in high yield and high purity. alpha-Aminonitriles and their fluorinated analogues are important classes of compounds, which show interesting pharmaceutical and biological properties. Presence of fluorine atom increases their biological activities significantly.