An efficient system based on acetone cyanohydrin and catalytic amounts of copper(I) iodide and 1,10-phenanthroline is reported for the cyanation of alkenyl iodides. A wide range of polysubstituted acrylonitriles could be obtained in fair to good yields and with complete retention of the geometry of the double bond. This extension of the Rosenmund–von Braun reaction also enabled a straightforward formal synthesis of the naturally occurring acrylonitrile alliarinoside.