Tandem Triphosgene-Assisted Metal-Free One-pot Preparation of Nitriles and Amides from Aldehydes and Ketones

Here we report a facile and efficient triphosgene-assisted one-pot conversion of aldehydes/ketones into nitriles/amides. The triphosgene, a kind of phosgene alternative, containing both ester linkage and chloromethyl units, easily reacts with oximes for the preparation of nitriles/amides. However, the reaction of oximes with triphosgene can’t fully convert corresponding nitriles/amides due to hydrolysis of oximes to aldehydes or ketones. Our protocol tandem proceeds smoothly without the use of organic base and metal catalysts. Diverse functionalized aromatic, aliphatic, and allylic aldehydes/ketones incorporating biomass-derived platform compounds were successfully converted to nitriles and amides in excellent yields. Compared to step-by-step reaction, this tandem strategy is characterized by multi-step reaction in one pot, mild reaction conditions, and fewer by-products.