LU Chengwei¹, WANG Shoufeng², MIAO Chengxia², XU Daqian², SUN Wei²

(1.School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China; 2.State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis and Selective Oxidation, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China)

Abstract: The chiral cyanohydrins are versatile building blocks, and the asymmetric cyanation of carbonyl compounds is one of the most efficient way in organic synthesis for preparing optically active cyanohydrin derivatives. This review covers recent progress on the stereoselective cyanation of carbonyl compounds using homogeneous metal salen complexes as catalysts. 

Key words: Salen complex;  Asymmetric catalyst;  Cyanation;  Aldehydes;  Ketones

E-mail: chengweilv@126.com 

Journal of Molecular Catalysis, Vol. 26, Issue 4, 2012,376-389