A new facile method for preparation of heterocyclic α-iminonitriles and α-oxoacetic acid from heterocyclic aldehydes, p-aminophenol, and sodium cyanide

Very efficient, simple, and high yield procedures for the transformation of heterocyclic aldehydes into heterocyclic methylidene-p-hydroxyanilines, heterocyclic α-iminonitriles, and finally into heterocyclic α-oxoacetic acids were described. Considering that many of these compounds have biological activity, the synthetic methodology was optimized using readily available, inexpensive starting materials, and the purification of the product involved only simple crystallization.