---
title: "Strecker synthesis Template – Chemistry Diagram | MolDraw"
url: https://www.moldraw.com/templates/strecker-synthesis/
description: "Strecker synthesis template: Ammonia and acetaldehyde give an iminium ion, cyanide adds to give the aminonitrile, and hydrolysis gives alanine. Preview it…"
lang: en
publisher: Scidart Academy
generated: 2026-10-28
---
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# Strecker synthesis template

![Strecker synthesis template: Ammonia and acetaldehyde give an iminium ion, cyanide adds to give the aminonitrile, and hydrolysis gives alanine.](https://www.moldraw.com/templates/strecker-synthesis.webp)

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Ammonia and acetaldehyde give an iminium ion, cyanide adds to give the aminonitrile, and hydrolysis gives alanine.

## Mechanism step by step

Aldehyde + ammonia + cyanide: an α-aminonitrile, then an α-amino acid

1. **Ammonia adds** – Attack on the C=O
2. **Proton transfer** – A hemiaminal
3. **Protonation** – NH₄⁺ protonates the OH
4. **Iminium ion** – Water leaves
5. **Cyanide adds** – The α-aminonitrile

## Key points

- Hot aqueous acid then hydrolyses C≡N to CO₂H (via the amide).
- The product is racemic: cyanide adds to either face of the flat iminium ion.
- Strecker’s 1850 alanine was the first laboratory amino-acid synthesis.
- Chiral catalysts or amines give single enantiomers.

Drawn with 55 atoms, 16 arrows, 7 shapes – every one editable in MolDraw.

## Sources

- [Strecker, Justus Liebigs Ann. Chem. 1850, 75, 27](https://doi.org/10.1002/jlac.18500750103) Original paper
- [Kürti & Czakó, Strategic Applications of Named Reactions in Organic Synthesis, Elsevier 2005](https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9780124297852) Textbook
- [Clayden, Greeves & Warren, Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed., OUP 2012](https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9780199270293) Textbook

## How to use this template

1. Press **Edit in MolDraw**. The template opens on the canvas of the free MolDraw editor.
2. Change anything: move structures, edit atoms and labels, recolour highlights or delete what you do not need.
3. Add your own structures, arrows and text next to it, or combine several templates on one page.
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## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Strecker synthesis template free?

You can preview the Strecker synthesis template here and open and edit it in MolDraw for free. Downloading or exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro, together with the other premium templates.

### Can I edit the Strecker synthesis template?

Yes. It opens as an ordinary MolDraw drawing, so every structure, arrow, label and colour can be changed, and you can add your own content around it.

### Is the chemistry checked?

Every structure is checked with RDKit and every curly arrow passes MolDraw’s electron-flow audit. The sources used are listed on this page.

### Which name reactions are included?

Over seventy, covering the reactions most often asked in school-leaving exams (A-level, IB, CBSE, JEE and NEET) and first-year university courses, including condensations, rearrangements, oxidations, reductions and aromatic substitutions.

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