The Decarboxylative Strecker Reaction

Abstract

α-Amino acids react with aldehydes in the presence of a cyanide source to form α-amino nitriles in what can be considered a decarboxylative variant of the classical Strecker reaction. This unprecedented transformation does not require the use of a metal catalyst and provides facile access to valuable α-amino nitriles that are inaccessible by traditional Strecker chemistry.