Copper-Catalyzed Dehydration of Primary Amides to Nitriles

Abstract  

In the present study we introduce a copper-catalyzed protocol for the dehydration of primary amides to their corresponding nitriles applying N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) as silylation reagent. For that purpose investigations of various reaction parameters (copper source, solvent, temperature, MSTFA and copper loading) have been carried out to find suitable reaction conditions. Simple copper(I) chloride (2.5 mol%) and MSTFA (2.0 equiv) in toluene allow for the straightforward synthesis of a variety of nitriles (15 examples).