A mild and general one-pot preparation of cyanoethyl-protected tetrazoles

Described herein is a mild and general one-pot procedure for the conversion of cyanoethyl amides to cyanoethyl-protected tetrazoles with azidotrimethylsilane via the intermediacy of imidoyl chlorides generated in situ with phosphorus pentachloride. This synthetic sequence works well with sterically hindered amides and is compatible with acid sensitive functionality.