Reduction of unsaturated adamantyl-containing nitriles with lithium aluminum hydride in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran

Reduction of unsaturated adamantyl-containing nitriles with lithium aluminum hydride in 2-methyltetrahydrofuran was examined. It was found that under the synthesis conditions a simultaneous reduction of the double bond and the nitrile group successfully occurred. The presence of bulky substituents in the α-position to the adamantyl moiety of nitriles led to a significant increase in the synthesis duration. A satisfactory yield of the target compounds was achieved only by increasing the temperature and using a two-fold excess of lithium aluminum hydride.