**12. Rapid access to pharmacophore fragments from β-cyanoaldehydes**

Realizing the importance of asymmetric synthesis of the late chemists, they are making use of photoredox and organocatalysis together, among which CdC bond forming reactions are very important in the construction of biologically active compounds in a stereoselective fashion. One of the CdC bond forming reactions which enable the alkylation of aldehydes with a reserved cyanide functional group in the new bond is useful for synthetic manipulations. The research article presented describes the generation of CdC bond by making use of α-bromocyanoalkylated compounds as reagents, and this reaction generated β-cyano alkyls in a single synthetic operation with stereoselectivity. In a typical experimental procedure, an aldehydic compound α-bromoacetonitrile, Ru(bpy)3Cl2, asymmetric organocatalyst, and an imidazolidinone catalyst reaction mixture is irradiated by a 26 W CFL light source. The results are highly appreciable with preparative yield and with excellent enantioselectivity. More interestingly, this useful methodology has also demonstrated a total synthesis of a lignin natural product, namely, (�) bursehernin [17].
