Preparation of β-amino esters and β-lactams from nitriles via aldimine-borane complexes

Condensation of non-enolizable and enolizable aldimine-triethylborane complexes with dimethylketene acetal (II) provides access to β-amino esters (VI) and (III) from aliphatic (V) and aromatic nitriles (I) in a one-pot fashion.