A new rhodium-catalyzed method for preparing arylboronates from aryl cyanides through
the cleavage of carbon–cyano bonds is described. This unprecedented transformation
of nitriles allows the use of a cyano group as a boryl equivalent and the regioselective
introduction of a boryl group at a late stage of the synthesis.
Key words
rhodium - catalysis - borylation - nitrile - C–CN bond cleavage