JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, cilt.81, sa.10, ss.4098-4102, 2016 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
An amido cuprate formed from CuCN and LDA allows a general deconjugative a-alkylation of cyclic alkenenitriles. Deprotonating cyclic alkenenitriles with LDA-CuCN avoids polymerization that otherwise plagues these alkylations and generates a reactive metalated nitrile for alkylations with a range of carbon and heteroatom electrophiles. The strategy provides an effective synthesis of quaternary 5-, 6-, and 7-membered cycloalk-1-enecarbonitriles substituted on the nitrile-bearing carbon.