A Ni-catalyzed cyanation of aryl halides using potassium ferrocyanide (K4[Fe(CN)6]) as a nontoxic cyanide source has been developed. Key features of this method include the use of biphasic aqueous con...

Nature Catalysis, Published online: 10 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41929-026-01578-9Direct deaminative cyanation of aliphatic amines is hampered by inert C–N bonds and oxidative instability. Now a copper-catalysed, preactivation-free approach enabled by anomeric amide activation is reported that also includes an asymmetric variant.

Strategic molecular bridging: Replacement of oxygen with sulfur in C-linked nucleosides can fundamentally alter anomeric reactivity, leading to unexpected and exclusive α-selective cyanation in our w...

A novel Zn-mediated preparation of propiolonitriles using electrophilic cyanation of alkynyl bromides with N-cyano-N-phenyl-p-methylbenzenesulfonamide (NCTS) has been achieved here. The zinc dust was ...

Metal-free β- and Z-selective hydrocyanation of terminal ynamides using TMSCN and TBAF is described. The transformation proceeds with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity, delivering exclusively Z-c...

Nature Catalysis, Published online: 10 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41929-026-01573-0Reactions involving transient, unstabilized alkyl C-radicals generally suffer from poor enantioselectivity. Here the authors describe a method for the highly enantioselective cyanation of C-radicals via copper catalysis, enabled by a ligand-mediated radical orientation strategy.

The route and process for the penultimate intermediate toward an mTOR inhibitor GSK332 in GSK’s respiratory portfolio is described. It relies on a heterocycle formation from a crystalline sodium ketoester enolate and an amidine derived from Pd-catalyzed cyanation of an azaindole. The final step involves an SNAr reaction through selective activation by a hindered sulfonyl chloride and Lewis acid activation to accelerate the rate.

We report the highly enantioselective nucleophilic addition reaction of simple ketone-derived hydrazones. Accordingly, a ErCl₃-catalyzed cyanation of both aliphatic and aryl ketone hydrazones is achieved for the facile access of Cα-tetrasubstituted α-hydrazino nitriles in up to 96% ee, by using the sterically confined pyridinebisoxazoline (PYBOX) ligand featuring a sulfonyl group at the pyridine C4 position. This method enables the shortest catalytic enantioselective total synthesis of L-carbidopa, a drug that could treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, with 82% overall yield in four steps. These adducts are valuable synthons to various α-tertiary hydrazines and related azacycles that are interesting targets for medicinal studies and pesticide research. From our biological analysis, a chiral α-hydrazino nitrile with good insecticidal activity against Aphis gossypii (LC50 = 15.11 mg∙L–1) was identified, rivaling commercial insecticides. Authors present an ErCl₃-catalyzed cyanation

Nature Catalysis, Published online: 24 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41929-026-01598-5C–N bond functionalization of aliphatic primary amines is severely hampered by the poor nucleofugality of the NH2 group. Now, a direct catalytic deaminative cyanation of aliphatic primary amines has been established to enable efficient nitrile synthesis, including an asymmetric variant.

Micellar catalysis offers a sustainable and effective alternative to traditional systems. This study introduces a micellar platform based on the amphiphilic diblock copolypeptoid poly(N-methyl glycine...