Direct Three-Component Synthesis of a-Cyano Acrylates Involving Cascade Knoevenagel Reaction and Esterification

A direct three-component approach has been developed for the synthesis of a-cyano acrylates starting from al- dehydes, alcohols and a-cyano acetamide by employing cyanuric chloride as an organocatalyst. A class of structur- ally diverse a-cyano acrylates have been provided with good to excellent yields via the cascade transformation of Knoevenagel condensation and amide esterification.