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Deep eutectic solvent promoted one-pot synthesis of nitriles from alcohols

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Abstract

Various aryl nitriles were readily synthesized from aerobic oxidation of substituted benzyl alcohols in deep eutectic solvent composed of choline chloride (ChCl) and p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH) in the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO), followed by condensation with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. High yields of corresponding nitriles have been obtained under mild reactions conditions. This strategy belongs to a novel and environmentally benign transition-metal-free one-pot cascade process for the synthesis of nitriles.

Graphic abstract

Various aryl nitriles were readily synthesized from aerobic oxidation of substituted benzyl alcohols in deep eutectic solvent (ChCl/p-TsOH) in the presence of TEMPO, followed by condensation with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. This strategy belongs to a novel and environmentally benign transition-metal-free one-pot cascade process for the synthesis of nitriles.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21776056).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hebei Provincial Key Lab of Green Chemical Technology and High Efficient Energy Saving, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300130, People’s Republic of China

    Luxiao Liu, Hong-Yu Zhang, Guohui Yin, Yuecheng Zhang & Jiquan Zhao

  2. National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Energy Conservation of Chemical Process Integration and Resources Utilization, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300130, People’s Republic of China

    Yuecheng Zhang

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  1. Luxiao Liu
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  2. Hong-Yu Zhang
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  3. Guohui Yin
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  4. Yuecheng Zhang
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Correspondence to Yuecheng Zhang or Jiquan Zhao.

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Liu, L., Zhang, HY., Yin, G. et al. Deep eutectic solvent promoted one-pot synthesis of nitriles from alcohols. J Chem Sci 132, 122 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12039-020-01815-z

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