Patent ID: 6960680

Claim:
A process for making a water-soluble β-hydroxynitrile represented by the formula: said process comprising the step of: reacting a 1,2-epoxide and an inorganic cyanide salt in an aqueous organic solvent in the presence of a buffer to form a β-hydroxynitrile; wherein said 1,2-epoxide is represented by the formula: wherein: each R 1 and R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of: hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, t-butyl, (CH 2 ) n X, COR 3 , CO 2 R 3 and S(O) m R 3 ; each X is independently selected from the group consisting of: phenyl, COR 3 , CO 2 R 3 , S(O) m R 3 , OR 3 , and N(O)R 3 R 4 ; each R 3 and R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of: hydrogen, methyl and ethyl; each n is independently 1 or 2; and each m is independently 0, 1, 2 or 3.