Ligand-Promoted Rosenmund–von Braun Reaction

Two picolinamide ligands were found to have significant accelerating effect to classical Rosenmund–von Braun reaction, making the coupling of (hetero)aryl bromides with CuCN occur at 100–120 °C with good to excellent yields in most cases. A large number of functional groups and heterocycles were tolerated under these conditions, thereby providing a convenient and reliable approach for diverse synthesis of aryl nitriles.