An efficient one-pot three-component synthesis of α-amino nitriles via Strecker reaction catalysed by bismuth(III) nitrate

A convenient and efficient one-pot method for the synthesis of a variety of a-amino nitriles from aldehydes, amines and trimethylsilyl cyanide (TMSCN) in the presence of a catalytic amount of Bi(NO3)(3) at room temperature in acetonitrile (MeCN) is described. The significant features of this method are simple work-up procedure, inexpensive and non-toxic catalyst, shorter reaction times and excellent product yields. The catalyst Bi(NO3)(3) can be reused. The reusability of the catalyst has been studied for the synthesis of various amino nitriles. (C) 2012 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).