Catalyst-free and solvent-free cyanosilylation and Knoevenagel condensation of aldehydes

A simple catalyst-free and solvent-free method for the cyanosilylation of a variety of aldehydes with trimethylsilyl cyanide as well as the Knoevenagel condensation reaction of various aldehydes with malononitrile was developed. The developed protocol demonstrated high efficiency in the two C–C bond formation scenarios.