Copper-catalyzed intermolecular cyanotrifluoromethylation of alkenes.

A novel and highly practical reaction for the copper-catalyzed intermolecular cyanotrifluoromethylation of alkenes is presented here. This methodology provides a general and straightforward way to synthesize a variety of useful CF3-containing nitriles, which can be used for further preparation of pharmaceutically and agrochemically important compounds in synthetic organic chemistry.