Formal reductive addition of acetonitrile to aldehydes and ketones.

An efficient and highly productive rhodium-catalyzed method for the synthesis of nitriles employing aldehydes or ketones, methyl cyanoacetate, water and carbon monoxide as starting materials has been developed. Simple rhodium chloride without any ligands can be used. The fine tuning of the substrate can lead to the activity higher than 5000 TON.