10.1039/c3cc41703d
The research aims to investigate the coordination preferences of lithium (Li), magnesium (Mg), and copper (Cu) cations with nitriles, focusing on whether these metals preferentially coordinate to the nitrogen (N-metalation) or carbon (C-metalation) atoms in nitriles. The study used a series of metalated arylacetonitriles and cyclohexanecarbonitriles to analyze the influence of the carbon scaffold and the nature of the metal on the preference for N- or C-metalation through 13C NMR analyses. The chemicals used in the process include phenylacetonitrile, cyclohexanecarbonitrile, and various metalating agents such as BuLi, i-PrMgCl, CuI, and Me2CuLi. The research concluded that lithium and magnesium preferentially coordinate to the nitrile nitrogen in arylacetonitriles, while copper favors C-metalation. The study also found that the carbon scaffold can significantly influence the coordination preferences, with magnesiated nitriles showing a preference for N-metalation with arylacetonitriles and C-metalation with cyclohexanecarbonitrile. These findings underscore the complex nature of metalated nitriles and their structural identity, which is intimately tied to the metal cation and the nature of the substituents on the nucleophilic carbon.