Prof. Kazuaki Ishihara, Associate Prof. Manabu Hatano, and Mr. Katsuya Yamakawa (a graduate student), Graduate School of Engineering at Nagoya University, successfully developed an efficient enantioselective synthetic method of cyanohydrins suitable for the development and production of pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals.
The reaction time required for the catalytic enantioselective cyanosilylation of ketones in all the 25 substrates examined in this study ranged from 9 hours to as short as 2 hours, which ranks as the shortest found in the world yet. In addition, high yields were obtained even on an industrial scale; thus, this technique is expected to be of great utility in the development and production of pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals in the marketplace.
This research achievement was published online (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55(12), 4021-4025, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201510682) in Angewandte Chemie International Edition on February 2, 2016, and was selected as the Cover Picture of the journal.
More details:
