Thiol-Catalyzed Radical Decyanation of Aliphatic Nitriles with Sodium Borohydride.

Radical decyanation of aliphatic nitriles was achieved in the presence of NaBH4 and a thiol. The reaction proceeds via a radical mechanism involving borane radical anion addition to nitrile to form an iminyl radical, which undergoes carbon-carbon cleavage. Reductive radical addition to acrylonitrile is followed by decyanation to give a two-carbon homologated product in a net radical ethylation reaction.