Zinc‐Catalyzed Hydrocyanation of Ynamides and Photoisomerization, a General and Selective Access to E and Z Trisubstituted α‐Enamidonitriles

The fully regio- and stereoselective Zn-catalyzed hydrocyanation of ynamides is reported and represents a general access to various trisubstituted E-α-enamidonitriles. The catalyst-free photoisomerization selectively yields the energetically comparable Z-stereoisomer. Finally, the synthetic potential of these new α-enamidonitriles was evaluated through the synthesis of original heterocycles.