This article summarized our recent progress in Lewis base-catalyzed the direct allylic substitutions of Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) adducts with α-amino nitriles and cyanohydrins bearing an α-hydrogen, which provided efficient access to functionalized α-amino nitriles and cyanohydrins incorporating quaternary carbon centers. On the basis of these, a novel metal-free carbocyanation (alkenylcyanation and acylcyanation) approach to construct functionalized nitriles incorporating β-quaternary carbon center has been developed. In addition, the several factors influencing these chemical transformations are discussed, and the possible mechanism is proposed.
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