Stephen Reaction

Abstract The synthesis of aldehydes by the treatment of nitriles with anhydrous stannous chloride saturated with dry hydrogen chloride gas to form crystalline “aldimine stannichloride” followed by their hydrolysis with water is generally referred to as the Stephen reaction. The study finds that the success of this reaction is based on the precipitation of the ether insoluble crystalline “aldimine stannichloride” (i.e., (RCH=NH·HCl) 2 SnCl 4 ). It has been found that this reaction in general is more feasible for aromatic nitriles instead of the aliphatic nitriles. This reaction is considered useful for the preparation of aldehydes.