Cyanides and Isocyanides

Cyanides and isocyanides are the two families of alkyl derivatives of hydrocyanic acid (HCN), which itself exists in two tautomeric forms: hydrogen cyanide (H-C#N) and hydrogen isocyanide (H-N#C, with the divalent-carbon lone pair convention). Replacing the tautomer's hydrogen with an alkyl group gives, respectively, an alkyl CYANIDE (R-C#N, the carbon-bonded family) or an alkyl ISOCYANIDE (R-N#C, the nitrogen-bonded family, also called a carbylamine) -- struct …