Chemistry of Cyanide Adducts of Aldimines from Aniline Derivatives.

The chemistry of hydrogen cyanide adducts of imines is well-developed, but that of cyanide adducts remains unexplored. This is presumably because these cyanide adducts are not stable and thus not readily available in their isolated forms. In this personal account, we present the progress made in our research program towards the development of novel organic transformations utilizing cyanide adducts of imines as key intermediates. We also report the application of these methodologies to the total synthesis of natural products including indole alkaloids.