Various aromatic and heterocyclic oxazolines were directly converted to respective cyanomethyl esters with pyridinium hydrobromide perbromide in water at room temperature.
The first oxidativecoupling of alkylnitriles with aromatic carboxylicacids using di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP) as oxidant was achieved under the catalysis of ionic Fe(III) complexes bearing an imidazolinium cation. This protocol features nontoxic iron catalysis, direct α-C(sp3)–H bond oxidative esterification of alkylnitriles, non-prefunctionalized starting materials, and a broad substrate scope