A New and Practical Procedure for the Bruylants Reaction. Zinc-Mediated Synthesis of Tertiary Homoallylamines and β-Aminoesters

N,N-Disubstituted α-aminonitriles undergo Bruylants reaction under Barbier and Reformatsky conditions with activated halides, in the presence of zinc and 10 mol% HOAc. The high yields and the simple operational conditions make this reaction an appealing, approach to N,N-disubstituted homoallylamines and β-aminoesters.