Metal-mediated and metal-catalyzed hydrolysis of nitriles

The essential goals of this review are the following: (i) to verify various factors which affect the metal-mediated hydrolysis of organonitriles; (ii) to draw attention to unusual conversions of RCN species, yet underdeveloped and non-systematic, which involve hydrolysis and lead to compounds of synthetic and/or pharmacological significance. The metal-mediated and/or metal-catalyzed reactions of RCN species are surveyed and the experimental material on metal-mediated hydration of RCN species at diverse metal centers along the Periodic Table is summarized in a tabular form. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.