I have done some searching and have yet to find any threads on the old time barbs save for what syntheses were in Rhodium files. I am not a chemist by trade but have interest in these syntheses as it appears there has not been much. If I am mistaken, I would appreciate a link. If I am correct please bear with me and maybe help me out some. The first problems that I come up with are obtaining or even synthesizing the required malonic ester. For that matter, I have a problem even identifying the correct structure. The next problem if the KCN. Many syntheses talk about this like it is simple yet I have found no references to it either here yet or in the inorganic texts in the e-files section. Help would be appreciated.