Nucleophilic imidazole ring nitrogenous compounds

The compounds referred to as azolides are heterocyclic amides in which the amide nitrogen is part of an azole ring, such as imidazole, pyrazole, triazole, tetrazole, benzimidazole, benzotriazole, and their substituted derivatives. In contrast to normal amides, most of which show particularly low reactivities in such nucleophilic reactions as hydrolysis, alcoholysis, aminolysis, etc., the azolides are characterized by high reactivities in reactions with nucleophiles within the carbonyl group placing these compounds at about the same reactivity level as the corresponding acid chlorides or anhydrides. 11... 

There is one example in which part of the amidine system is a C—N bond in a heterocyclic ring. The enamino ketone condensation products (42) of 3-amino-l,2,4-oxadiazoles and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds cyclize in basic medium to form 60-80% yields of imidazoles. The driving force for this reaction is provided by the well-established, general attack of a nucleophilic centre in the side-chain at N-2 of the heterocyclic ring, but it is unusual in that a carbon nucleophile (rather than an oxygen or nitrogen species) is implicated (Scheme 23). 

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