O-Benzylated acyclic sugars are allowed to react with azidotrimethylsilane in the presence of boron trifluoride–diethyl ether to afford the corresponding 1,1-diazido sugars, cyano sugars, and interestingly, 1,1-diazido sugars degradated at the 1-position of carbon.
Treatment of aromatic, heterocyclic, aliphatic, conjugated, and polyhydroxy aldehydes with iodine in ammoniawater at room temperature for a short period gave the corresponding nitriles in high yields.