Nickel-catalyzed hydrogenolysis of unactivated carbon–cyano bonds

Selective hydrogenolysis of C–CN bonds can allow chemists to take advantage of ortho-directing ability, α-C–H acidity and electron withdrawing ability of the cyano group for synthetic manipulations. We have discovered hydrogenolysis of aryl and aliphatic cyanides under just 1 bar of hydrogen by using a nickel catalyst. This protocol was applied in the aryl cyanide directed functionalization reaction and α-substitution of benzyl cyanides