A model for the attack of a nucleophile on a nitrile group: the X-ray crystal structure of 2,2′-bipyridine-3,3′-dicarbonitrile

Abstract
From analysis of the geometry of the attractive intramolecular interactions between the pyridine N atoms and the nitrile C atoms in title compound 2 it is proposed that the most favoured direction of approach of a nucleophile to an sp C(N) makes an angle of at least 108° to the triple bond.