Bucherer-Bergs Reaction

A Multi-component Reaction Between A Ketone, Potassium Cyanide And Ammonium Carbonate, Which Leads To The Formation Of Hydantoins.

A Pre-formed Cyanohydrin Can React With Ammonium Carbonate To Give The Same Product:

Mechanism Of The Bucherer-Bergs Reaction

The Bucherer-Bergs Reaction Is Equivalent To The Strecker Synthesis with "additional CO₂". Hydantoins May Be Opened To Yield N-carbamoylamino Acids Which Form Amino Acids By Treatment With Acid Or With A Suitable Enzyme:

Recent Literature

Continuous Synthesis Of Hydantoins: Intensifying The Bucherer-Bergs Reaction
J. L. Monteiro, B. Pieber, A. G. Corrêa, C. O. Kappe, Synlett, 2016, 27, 80-82.

Spiro Hydantoin Aldose Reductase Inhibitors Derived From 8-Aza-4-chromanones
R. Sarges, S. W. Goldstein, W. M. Welch, J. Med. Chem., 1990, 33, 1859-1865.

Modified Bucherer-Bergs Reaction For The One-Pot Synthesis Of 5,5′-Disubstituted Hydantoins From Nitriles And Organometallic Reagents
C. Montagne, M. Shipman, Synlett, 2006, 2203-2206.