New reactions of 3,4‐dihydro‐6,7‐dimethoxyisoquinoline ylide with nitrile derivatives.

Novel examples for dipolar cycloaddition of isoquinolinium ylides to nitriles leading to new imidazo[2,1‐a]isoquinolines were described and the potential of this reaction in synthetic chemistry was explored. As a by‐product of this research, a number of N‐substituted, 3,4‐dihydro‐1H‐isoquinoline‐1‐carbonitriles were synthesized by a simple, efficient reaction of a series of isoquinolinium bromides and ethyl cyanoformate in the presence of triethylamine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]