Of 4//-imidazoles

The nucleophilicity of the nitrogen atom survives in many different functional groups, although its basicity may be lost. Reactions of non-basic, but nucleophilic urea nitrogens provide, for example, an easy entry to sleeping-pills (barbiturates) as well as to stimulants (caffeine). The nitrogen atoms of imidazoles and indole anions are also nucleophilic and the NH protons can be easily substituted. 

Protonation of imidazole yields an ion that is stabilized by the electron delocalization represented in the resonance structures shown... 

Given that the p/Ca of imidazolium ion is 7 is a 1 M aqueous solution of imidazolium chloride acidic basic or neutraP What about a 1 M solu tion of imidazole A solution containing equal molar quantities of imidazole and imidazolium chloride ... 

Several biologically and pharmacologically active compounds have been prepared from the condensation of the acid chloride of 1-naphthoxyacetic acid with carbazole, iadole, or pyrrole ia 2A[ NaOH solution ia ethanol (63). Also, naphthyloxy derivatives of imidazole, benzimidazole, and benzotriazoles have been synthesized and screened for their antimicrobial, analgesic, and antiinflammatory activities. 2-Naphthyloxy derivatives are comparatively more active than 1-naphthyloxy derivatives (64). 

A/-Chloroamidines are usehil for preparation of biocidal imidazoles (106) and thiadiazolines (107). Ai-Chloroguanidines, RNHC(=NC1)NHR, serve as starting materials for synthesis of imidazoles, oxadiazoles, and thiadiazoles (108,109). 

Values for the tt-electron densities in imidazole and two related ions are given in Figure 1, The TT-electron densities in the conjugate acid of imidazole are greater at the 2-position... 

The basicities of the parent azole systems in water are shown in Table 1. When both heteroatoms are nitrogen, the mesomeric effect predominates when the heteroatoms are in the 1,3-positions, whereas the inductive effect predominates when they are in the 1,2-positions. The predominance of the mesomeric effect is illustrated by the pK value of imidazole (82 Z = NH), which is 7.0, whereas that of pyrazole (83 Z = NH) is 2.5 cf. pyridine, 5.2). An fV-methyl group is base-strengthening in imidazole, but base-weakening in pyrazole, probably because of steric hindrance to hydration. When the second heteroatom is oxygen or sulfur the inductive, base-weakening effect increases the pK of thiazole (82 Z = S) is 3.5 and that of isoxazole (83 Z = 0) is 1.3. 

A multiply bonded nitrogen atom deactivates carbon atoms a or y to it toward electrophilic attack thus initial substitution in 1,2- and 1,3-dihetero compounds should be as shown in structures (110) and (111). Pyrazoles (110 Z = NH), isoxazoles (110 Z = 0), isothiazoles (110 Z = S), imidazoles (111 Z = NH, tautomerism can make the 4- and 5-positions equivalent) and thiazoles (111 Z = S) do indeed undergo electrophilic substitution as expected. Little is known of the electrophilic substitution reactions of oxazoles (111 Z = O) and compounds containing three or more heteroatoms in one ring. Deactivation of the 4-position in 1,3-dihetero compounds (111) is less effective because of considerable double bond fixation (cf. Sections 4.01.3.2.1 and 4.02.3.1.7), and if the 5-position of imidazoles or thiazoles is blocked, substitution can occur in the 4-position (112). 

Imidazole rings also survive most oxidation conditions, but photosensitized oxidation of imidazoles can give diarylbenzamidines through a hydroperoxide (136) (70AHC(12)103). 

Photochemical additions to give four-membered rings are known. Thus the reactions of imidazoles across the 4,5-bond with benzophenone and acrylonitrile are illustrated by (278) (279) and (280) (281), respectively (80AHC(27)24l). Oxazolin-2-one undergoes... 

Substituents in the 4-position of these compounds are also a to a multiply-bonded nitrogen atom, but because of bond fixation they are relatively little influenced by this nitrogen atom even when it is quaternized (333). This is similar to the situation for 3-substituents in isoquinolines, cf. Chapter 2.02. In general, substituents in the 4- and 5-positions of imidazoles, thiazoles and oxazoles show much the same reactivity of the same substituents on benzeneoid compounds (but see Section 4.02.3.9.1). 

In addition to the reactions described in the preceding section, alkyl groups in the 2-positions of imidazole, oxazole and thiazole rings show reactions which result from the easy loss of a proton from the carbon atom of the alkyl group which is adjacent to the ring (see Section 4.02.3.1.2). 

In general, methyl groups in the 4- and 5-positions of imidazole, oxazole and thiazole do not undergo such deprotonation-mediated reactions, even when the ring is cationic. 

Halogen atoms in the 2-position of imidazoles, thiazoles and oxazoles (542) undergo nucleophilic substitution reactions. The conditions required are more vigorous than those used, for example, for a- and y-halogenopyridines, but much less severe than those required for chlorobenzene. Thus in compounds of type (542 X = Cl, Br) the halogen atom can be replaced by the groups NHR, OR, SH and OH (in the last two instances, the products tautomerize see Sections 4.02.3.7 and 4.02.3.8.1). 

Isoxazoles (478) in the presence of base undergo ring opening to a-ketonitriles (479). When the reaction was carried out in the presence of hydrazines, 5-aminopyrazoles (480) were obtained. The reaction is also a convenient source of imidazoles, For example, when the 1,2-benzisoxazole (481) was treated with phenylhydrazine, decarboxylation initially occurred with subsequent ring closure to (482) (see Chapter 4.16). 

The systems discussed here are aromatic systems which undergo a variety of isomerizations on irradiation. Irradiation of imidazoles led to a scrambling of substituents, whereas such scrambling has not been observed in the pyrazoles which undergo photoisomerization to imidazoles. 

Cleavage of imidazoles to enediamides, useful In synthesis of 2substrtuted imidazoles. 

If this intermediate, in turn, is more n idly attacked by water or hydroxide ion than the original ester, the overall reaction will be faster in the presence of the nucleophile than in its absence. These are the requisite conditions for nucleophilic catalysis. Esters of relatively acidic alcohols (in particular, phenols) are hydrolyzed by the nucleophilic catalysis mechanism in the presence of imidazole ... 

By using imidazole catalysis, it is possible to get a better understanding of the active forms that water takes in enzymatic processes Thus, at low concentrations m the presence of an enzyme, the water may not be fully hydrogen bonded and therefore more reactive [61] The rate of hydrolysis of p-nitrotrifluoroacetanilide in acetonitrile shows a strong dependence on water concentration at low levels in the presence of imidazole The imidazolium complex is the approximate transition state (equation 60)... 

The addition of imidazole to the ethyl hemiacetal of tnfluoroacetaldehyde provides 1 -(1 -hydroxy-2, 2, 2 -tnfluoroethyl)imidazoles in yields depending upon the electronic nature of the substiments [5] (equation 5) (Table 1)... 

KOH, H2O, reflux, 12 h, 64-92% yield. This group is more stable to n-BuLi than is the benzyl group in the protection of imidazoles... 

Compare the electrostatic potential map for heptapeptide glyglyglyhis glyglygly to that of imidazole. Would you expect the imidazole ring in this molecule to be more or less basic than free imidazole Explain. 

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