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Aldimine coupling (AIC) is the nitrogen analogue of the benzoin condensation and has been applied to dialdimines, providing the first examples of cyclizations effected by cyanide-catalyzed AIC. Sodium cyanide promoted the facile, intramolecular cyclization of several dialdimines in N,N-dimethylformamide, methanol, or methylene chloride/water (phase-transfer conditions) yielding a variety of six-membered heterocycles. Under aerobic conditions, an oxidative cyclization occurs to provide the diimine heterocycle. Oligomerization was observed with rigid dialdimines for which cyclization was precluded.
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Reich et al. (2004) studied this question.
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