Efficient Activation of Acetals, Aldehydes, and Imines toward Silylated Nucleophiles by the Combined Use of Catalytic Amounts of [Rh(COD)Cl]2and TMS-CN under Almost Neutral Conditions
(E)-chalcone derivatives with trimethyl cyanide recently reported from our laboratory. It was found consequently that previously assigned isomerized products were not Z-isomer of α-methoxy-β,γ-unsaturated nitriles, but γ-methoxy-α,β-unsaturated nitriles produced by double transfer of double bond and methoxy group. Reactions of thus formed nitriles with several silylated nucleophiles are also described.