α-Cyanoketones represent a synthetically attractive scaffold possessing bifunctional reactivity which enabled synthesis of a diversity of products. This involves reaction of nucleophiles with electrophilic carbonyl carbon performing an efficient and regioselective way to acylation reaction, cycloaddition of activated cyano function with dipolarophiles, metal-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling carbocyanation across C-C multiple bonds as well as hydrocyanation. This review provides the recent developments in the chemistry of α-cyanoketones which will be beneficial for researchers and scientists in such field.
Keywords: CDC carbocyanation; Carbocyanation; Cycloaddition reaction; Regioselective acylation; α-Cyanoketones.