Synthesis of δ,δ‐Diaryl‐α‐cyanoacrylamides and δ,δ‐Diarylallylidiene Malononitriles by Pd(OAc) ₂ Catalyzed Mizoroki‐Heck Reaction

An expeditious route for the stereoselective catalytic monohydration of nitrile and ′CN′ directed regio‐stereoselctive δ‐arylation of various arylallylidene malononitriles affording δ, δ‐Diaryl‐α‐cyanoacrylamides in hydrolysis condition and δ, δ‐Diarylallylidene malononitriles in anhydrous condition by Pd(OAc) 2 catalyzed Mizoriki‐Heck reaction is described. This provides an instantaneous formation of a library of compounds in a very short time period and simple operational process. The structure elucidation of the diastereomers was done by HMBC, HSQC, 2‐D NMR experiments and X‐ray single crystallographic analysis. A probable reaction mechanism directed by nitriles and involvement of syn and anti π‐allylic Pd‐complexes has been proposed that is in consonance with the experimental findings and product distributions.