Described herein is a novel one-pot, three-component reaction where aldehydes, electron-rich arenes, and TMSCN in the presence of BF3-OEt2 allowed direct access to a number of diarylacetonitriles under mild reaction conditions in good to excellent yields. Implementation of this assembly protocol to a concise synthetic approach to shoreaphenol, a bioactive oligostilbenoid natural product, is also demonstrated.
