AQUEOUS HIGH-TEMPERATURE CHEMISTRY OF CARBOCYCLES AND HETEROCYCLES .12. BENZONITRILES AND PYRIDINECARBONITRILES, BENZAMIDES AND PYRIDINECARBOXAMIDES, AND BENZYLAMINES AND PYRIDYLAMINES

The title nitriles and amides are almost unreactive under thermolysis conditions but on aquathermolysis are hydrolyzed to the corresponding acids (the nitriles via the amides). Ammonium hydroxide formed during the hydrolysis will autocatalyze all hydrolyses and subsequent decarboxylations. This catalytic effect would be expected to facilitate analogous maturation chemistry in the pores of source rock kerogens. The amines show a wide variety of reactions under both thermolysis and aquathermolysis conditions with the formation of condensed compounds particularly significant. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.