Rhodium-catalyzed directed C-H cyanation of arenes with N-cyano-N-phenyl-p-toluenesulfonamide.

A Rh-catalyzed directed C-H cyanation reaction was developed for the first time as a practical method for the synthesis of aromatic nitriles. N-Cyano-N-phenyl-p-toluenesulfonamide, a user-friendly cyanation reagent, was used in the transformation. Many different directing groups can be used in this C-H cyanation process, and the reaction tolerates a variety of synthetically important functional groups.