Palladium-catalyzed cyanation of bromocalix[4]arenes at the upper rimElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: experimental details for compound 1. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/p1/b1/b109083f/

Palladium-catalyzed cyanation of bromocalix[4]arenes possessing various kinds of functional groups at the lower rim is investigated. The yields varied depending on the functional groups. Most of the substrates are cyanated in excellent yield by treatment with Pd2(dba)3 or DPPF as the catalyst and Zn(CN)2 as the cyanide source.