Room-temperature synthesis of enantioenriched non-protected cyanohydrins using vanadium(salalen) catalyst.

Room-temperature synthesis of enantioenriched non-protected cyanohydrins using acetone cyanohydrin as the cyanide source was achieved by V(salalen) catalyst. Aliphatic aldehydes underwent the cyanation with 89–95% ee in the presence of only 0.2–0.4 mol% catalyst. Aromatic cyanohydrins were also obtained in high enantiomeric excesses under modified conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]