Step 1: Carbylamine Reaction:
Primary amines react with chloroform and alcoholic KOH to give foul-smelling isocyanides.
\[
R-NH_2 + CHCl_3 + 3KOH \rightarrow R-NC + 3KCl + 3H_2O
\]
Step 2: Why not secondary or tertiary amines?
- Secondary and tertiary amines lack the necessary NH\(_2\) group.