Acylation of nitriles to β-ketonitriles catalyzed by a heterometallic alkoxide cluster of neodymium and sodium： NdNa8（O^tBu）10（OH）

Catalytic acylation of nitriles with esters in the presence of 10 mol% NdNas（O^tBu）10（OH） is developed. The procedure is suitable for both enolizable and nonenolizable esters and affords β-ketonitriles in moderate to high yields. The heterometallic alkoxide cluster NdNas（O^tBu）10（OH） is structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction, and a mechanism for the production of β-ketonitriles using the cluster is proposed and verified.