Rhodium-catalyzed direct C-H bond cyanation of arenes with isocyanide.

An efficient rhodium-catalyzed regioselective C-H bond cyanation of arenes was developed using tert-butyl isocyanide as the cyanide source. A wide range of (hetero)aryl and cycloalkenyl nitriles could be afforded with high regioselectivity and good functional group tolerance.