Iminoxyl Radical-Promoted Oxycyanation and Aminocyanation of Unactivated Alkenes: Synthesis of Cyano-Featured Isoxazolines and Cyclic Nitrones.

A novel and facile approach to vicinal oxycyanation and aminocyanation of internal unactivated alkenes is developed. This method utilizes the dichotomous reactivity of iminoxyl radical derived from the initiation of β,γ- and γ,δ-unsaturated ketoximes to provide the general difunctionalization of internal alkenes using tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as the environmentally friendly oxidant, CuCN as the commercially available cyanating reagent, and pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as the ligand. By using this protocol, a series of useful cyano-featured isoxazolines and cyclic nitrones were efficiently prepared.