Cyanide is one of the most toxic inorganic anions, it is very harmful to human health but extremely useful in industrial activities. Herein, we used our recently reported boradiazaindacene (BODIPY) dye, 3,5-diformyl-borondipyrromethene (BODIPY 1) as an exclusive chemodosimetric and colorimetric sensor for CN(-) ion. Cyanide ion attacks the carbonyl groups of 1 via a nucleophilic addition reacti...

In 2005 a simple wetting method was developed that reduced total cyanide content of cassava flour 3–6fold. The method involved spreading wet flour in a thin layer and standing in the shade for five hours to allow evolution of HCN gas. We found that breakdown of linamarin catalysed by linamarase to acetone cyanohydrin, followed by its spontaneous decomposition to HCN and acetone was greatly incr...

PURPOSE To demonstrate the irreversible poisoning action of the acetone cyanohydrin (AC) in malignant cells. METHODS Thirty male Swiss mice were inoculated with 1 x 10³ Ehrlich tumor (ET) cells. The mice were divided into three groups (n=10): CG (saline); ACG1 (1.864 mg/Kg of AC) and ACG2 (2.796 mg/Kg of AC), treated every 48 hours from day 3 until day 13. On day 15 the mice were euthanized a...

An α-chiral nitrile carbanion generated by deprotonation of enantioenriched O-carbamoyl cyanohydrin was trapped in situ with ethyl cyanoformate to give the corresponding ester derivative in 92% yield and 90 : 10 er, providing the first example of trapping of an α-chiral acyclic nitrile carbanion that has been considered to be very configurationally labile.

The consecutive radical/ionic reaction consisting of radical formylation of alkyl bromides and nucleophilic addition of a cyanide ion was investigated, which gave moderate to good yields of cyanohydrin derivatives in one-pot.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) roots are the primary source of calories for more than 500 million people, the majority of whom live in the developing countries of Africa. Cassava leaves and roots contain potentially toxic levels of cyanogenic glycosides. Consumption of residual cyanogens (linamarin or acetone cyanohydrin) in incompletely processed cassava roots can cause cyanide poisoning....