Bayer Aktiengesellschaft

Manfred T Reetz

Karl-Erwin Piejko

Ralph Ostarek

Ioannis Chatziiosifidis

Mark Wilhelm Drewes

The invention relates to new optically active .alpha.-amino aldehydes of the formulae ##STR1## in which R.sub.1 represents an optionally substituted alkyl, alkenyl, aralkyl or aryl radical, and

Optically active .alpha.-amino aldehydes, process for the preparation

In the process according to the invention for the quasi-ionic polymerization of acrylic acid derivatives in organic solvents with initiators and zinc halides, the zinc halides are dissolved in the acrylic acid derivatives to be polymerized and the other components of the polymerization mixture are combined with this solution.

Process for the quasi-ionic polymerization of acrylic acid derivatives

The invention relates to a process for the quasi-ionic polymerization of acrylic acid derivatives, in which the polymerization is initiated by using special mercaptosilanes as initiators in the presence of nucleophilic or electrophilic catalysts.

Trimethylsilyl cyanide, (CH.sub.3).sub.3 Si-CN, is obtained by reacting trimethylsilyl chloride with an approximately equimolar amount of an alkali metal cyanide in the absence of water and in the presence of catalytic, sub-stoichiometric amounts of both an alkali metal iodide and N-methylpyrrolidone, at a temperature of from 15.degree.-25.degree. C.

Preparation of trimethylsilyl cyanide

Tertiary alkyl cyanides of the general formula ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 represent identical or different alkyl group or, together with the tertiary carbon atom to which they are bonded, form a polycycloalkyl group, or

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Marburg, Germany

Manfred T Reetz