Imidazole dicarbonyl, reaction with

The cyclization of 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds with aldehydes in the presence of NH4OAC to give imidazoles was employed in a combinatorial study that compared conventional and microwave heating in the preparation of a library of sulfanyl-imidazoles (Scheme 15). The study employed an array of expandable reaction vessels that could accommodate a pressure build-up system for heating without loss of volatile solvents or reagents. A 24-membered library of imidazoles (48 and 49) was prepared in 16 min instead of the 12 h required using conventional heating [45]. 

The 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds resulting from Stetter reactions have been used by Muller and colleagues [52] and by Bharadwaj and Scheidt [53] in efficient one-pot Stetter-Paal-Knorr protocols for the synthesis of highly substituted pyrroles. In an analogous fashion, Frantz et al. converted their a-ketoamides into the corresponding imidazoles by treatment with a primary amine [54]. 

Trifluoro-2-oxopropanal l-(dimethylhydrazone) 1447 is a synthetic equivalent of trifluoropyruvaldehyde. Like its 1,2-dicarbonyl counterpart, compound 1447 participates in the condensation reaction with aldehydes and ammonium acetate to afford 4-trifluoromethylimidazoles 1448 in 42-72% yield <2003H(60)1185>. 1,1,1-Trifluoro-2,3-alkanediones 1449, also 1,2-dicarbonyl equivalents, condense with aldehydes and aqueous ammonia to yield 4-(trifluoromethyl)imidazoles 1450 <2001JHC773>. 3-(Dimethylhydrazono)-l,l,l,4,4,4-hexafluoro-2-butanone... 

The reactions of amidines or guanidines with a-functionalized carbonyl compounds continue to be utilized for the synthesis of imidazoles. Thus, the mixed anhydride of acetic and chloroacetic acids reacts with symmetrical diarylguanidines to give l-aryl-2-arylaminoimidazolin-4-ones, and there is competitive formation of imidazoles and pyrimidines in the reaction of benzamidine with 3-bromobenzo-4-pyrones (18). Imidazoles are minor products, but are favored in nonpolar solvents. The use of a-dicarbonyl compounds with guanidine gives 2-amino-4-hydroxy-4-methyl-4//-imid-azoles, which give excellent yields of 2-aminoimidazoles on catalytic hydrogenation. " ... 

Pyrroles, pyrazoles, imidazoles, furans, and thiophenes can be made from 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds by reaction with an appropriate amine, oxidizing agent, or This process is... 

Non-volatile imidazoles that result from amino acids in reactions with a-dicarbonyl compounds, aldehydes and ammonia are betaines. The basic member of the homologous series of these imidazoles is 3-carboxymethyl-l-imidazoHum ethanoate, which arises as the main product in the reaction of glycine with glyoxal and ammonia (8-171). 

Highly enantioselective organocatalytic Mannich reactions of aldehydes and ketones have been extensively stndied with chiral secondary amine catalysts. These secondary amines employ chiral prolines, pyrrolidines, and imidazoles to generate a highly active enamine or imininm intermediate species [44], Cinchona alkaloids were previonsly shown to be active catalysts in malonate additions. The conjngate addition of malonates and other 1,3-dicarbonyls to imines, however, is relatively nnexplored. Snbseqnently, Schans et al. [45] employed the nse of Cinchona alkaloids in the conjngate addition of P-ketoesters to iV-acyl aldimines. Highly enantioselective mnltifnnctional secondary amine prodncts were obtained with 10 mol% cinchonine (Scheme 5). 

The imidazoles formed in the reaction of aqueous ammonia with other a-hydroxycarbonyl compounds, for example, the triose DL-glyceraldehyde, and such a-dicarbonyl compounds as 3-deoxy-D-glycero-pentosulose (59), and the 3,6-dideoxy-L-erythro-, D-arabino-, and 3-deoxy-D-erytforo-hexosuloses (60, 61, and 62), respectively, are summarized in Table VIII for reactions in which formaldehyde was added, and in Table IX for reactions in which it was not added. 

This benzilic acid type of rearrangement is the result of the action of alkali on the dicarbonyl compound, and is accelerated by calcium ions. The formation of saccharinic acids by the action of aqueous alkali on sugars is very well known 82,84,92 however, if ammonia is present, very little8 or no production of saccharinic acid has been reported. The reaction of the intermediate carbonyl compounds with ammonia is faster than the benzilic acid type of rearrangement to give saccharinic acid, and, hence, substituted imidazoles are formed, as illustrated in Scheme 9. 

Such hydroxyimidazoles or oxides are capable of complete reduction to the unoxygenated imidazoles, while the 1-hydroxyimidazole 3-oxides can also be partically reduced with, for example, NaBUi [53], or completely deoxygenated with Raney nickel [52, 54], Although most cyclizations of a-ketooximes lead to A -oxygenated imidazoles, there are exceptions. When an o(-oximino-)6-dicarbonyl compound is refluxed with benzylamine in a suitable solvent (c.g. DMSO, acetonitrile, toluene), 4-acylimidazoles (11) are formed in moderate to good yields. The reaction is readily adapted to the synthesis of imidazole-4-carboxylates and -amides (Scheme 4.1.7)... 

Many of the classical methods grew out of the earliest synthesis of imidazole, which was achieved in 1858 by Debus [1] when he allowed glyoxal, formaldehyde and ammonia to react together. Although the earliest modifications of this method used a-diketones or a-ketoaldehydes as substrates [2, by the 1930s it was well established that a-hydroxycarbonyl compounds could serve equally well, provided that a mild oxidizer (e.g. ammoniacal copper(ll) acetate, citrate or sulfate) was incorporated [3. A further improvement was to use ammonium acetate in acetic acid as the nitrogen source. All of these early methods have deficiencies. There are problems associated with the synthesis of a wide range of a-hydroxyketones or a-dicarbonyls, yields are invariably rather poor, and more often than not mixtures of products are formed. There are, nevertheless, still applications to the preparation of simple 4-alkyl-, 4,5-dialkyl(diaryl)- and 2,4,5-trialkyl(triaryl)imidazoles. For example, pymvaldehyde can be converted quite conveniently into 4-methylimidazole or 2,4-dimethylimidazole. However, reversed aldol reactions of pyruvaldehyde in ammoniacal solution lead to other imidazoles (e.g. 2-acetyl-4-methylimidazole) as minor products [4]. Such... 

Acylainino-4-acylimidazoles have been made from 3-amino-l,2,4-oxadiazoles and 1,3-dicarbonyl reagents (see Section 2.2.1 and Scheme 2.2.5). 4(5)-Acylimidazoles can be derived from 4-acylaininoisoxazoles (see Section 6.1.2 and Scheme 6.1.3). (See also the discussion in Section 2.2.1 on 4-acylimidazole synthesis.) 5-Acyl-l-arylimidazoles can be made from or-oxoketene-SJV-acetals and nitrosoaromatics (see Section 3.2 and Scheme 3.2.5), and 4-acyl-imidazoles by nitration of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds in their enolic forms, reduction to iV-alkenylformamides and subsequent cyclization (see Section 3.2 and Scheme 3.2.4). Examples have also been isolated from reactions of 2-oximino-l,2,3-tricarbonyls and amines (see Section 4.1 and Scheme 4.1.7), from compounds such as 3-chloro-4,4-dimethoxy-2-butanone and 3,4-disubstituted 3-buten-2-ones (see Section 4.3 and Scheme 4.3.5), and by ultraviolet irradiation of 1-alkenyltetrazoles which bear an acyl group conjugated with the exocyclic double bond (see Section 6.1.2.3). 

In the uncondensed imidazoles the standard method reacts an a-aminocarbonyl compound with a thiocyanate (see Section 4.1 and Table 4.1.1). If a 2-alkylthioimidazole is required directly, one can combine an N-alkyT or A -arylcarbonimidodithioate in refluxing acetic acid with the aminocarbonyl substrate (see Section 4.1 and Scheme 4.1.3). Alternatively, reaction between thiourea and a two-carbon synthon (ot-hydroxy-, a-halogeno-, a-dicarbonyl) leads to imidazoline-2-thiones (see Section 4.3). In sulfuric acid, 3-butynylthiourea cyclizes to 4,5-dimethylimidazolin-2-thione (see Section 2.2.1). 1-Substituted 2-methylthioimidazoles can be made, albeit in rather poor yields, from appropriately substituted 2-azabutadienes (see Section 3.2 and Scheme 3.2.3), and 2-arylthioimidazoles are available in moderate yields from benzyl isocyanides and arylsulfenyl chlorides (see Section 4.2 and Scheme 4.2.12). Ring transformations of 5-amino-2-alkylaminothiazoles and 2-acylamino-5-aminothiazoles may have occasional applications (see Section 6.1.2.7). The ease with which a thiol group or imidazole or benzimidazole can be alkylated, in comparison with the annular nitrogens, usually makes it more convenient to prepare alkylthioimidazoles from the thiols (or thiones). 

The reaction sequence of Scheme 3 might well be classified as an imidazole synthesis from other heterocycles, but it seems more logical to treat this as a cyclization involving formation of the 1,5-bond. The enaminoketone condensation products (12) of 3-amino-l,2,4-oxadiazoles and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds are cyclized by base to imidazoles (13) in 60-80% yields." Such a reaction makes use of the well-established general attack of a nucleophilic center in the side chain on N-2 of the oxadiazole ring. Benzamidine combines with 2-amino-3-phenacyl-l,3,4-oxadiazolium bromides to produce 1-acyl-amino-2-benzimidoylamino-4-arylimidazoles. ... 

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