Solvent imidazoles

Imidazole, colourless crystals, mp 90°C, bp 256°C, is soluble in water and other protic solvents, but only sparingly soluble in aprotic solvents. Imidazoles have high melting and boiling points when compared to pyrrole, oxazole and thiazole because the imidazole molecule is a donor as well as an acceptor of hydrogen bonds, and only intermolecular hydrogen bridges can be formed. 

In Section 3.2.4 we briefly introduced epoxide 303 as a useful chiral intermediate. Here, we expand upon the synthetic utility of 303 along with other epoxides. In addition to the previously described synthesis, epoxide 303 can also be prepared from acetals 437 or 438, as shown in Scheme 72. Silation of the hydroxy acetonides can be effected with TBPS-Cl in the presence of a variety of bases and solvents. Imidazole in DMF furnishes 507a in 98% yield [125], DBU in methylene chloride gives 507a in 86% yield [126], and triethylamine with a catal) ic amount of DMAP in methylene chloride affords 507b in 96% yield [112]. 

Schuster M, Meyer WH, Wegner G et al (2001) Proton mobility in oligomer-bound proton solvents Imidazole immobilization via flexible spacers. Solid State Ionics 145 85-92... 

Sauk, J., Byun, J., and Kim, H. (2005). Composite Nafion/polyphenylene oxide (PPO) membranes with phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) for direct methanol fuel cells. J. Power Sources 143, 136. Savadogo, O. (2004). Emerging membranes for electrochemical systems. Part II. High temperature composite membranes for polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) applications. J. Power Sources 127,135. Schuster, M., Meyer, W. H., Wegner, G., Herz, H. G., Ise, M., Schuster, M., Kreuer, K. D., and Maier, J. (2001). Proton mobihty in ohgomer-bound proton solvents Imidazole immobilization via flexible spacers. Solid State Ionics 145, 85. 

The bimodal profile observed at low catalyst concentration has been explained by a combination of two light generating reactive intermediates in equihbrium with a third dark reaction intermediate which serves as a way station or delay in the chemiexcitation processes. Possible candidates for the three intermediates include those shown as "pooled intermediates". At high catalyst concentration or in imidazole-buffered aqueous-based solvent, the series of intermediates rapidly attain equihbrium and behave kineticaHy as a single kinetic entity, ie, as pooled intermediates (71). Under these latter conditions, the time—intensity profile (Fig. 2) displays the single maximum as a biexponential rise and fall of the intensity which is readily modeled as a typical irreversible, consecutive, unimolecular process ... 

Azoles containing a free NH group react comparatively readily with acyl halides. N-Acyl-pyrazoles, -imidazoles, etc. can be prepared by reaction sequences of either type (66) -> (67) or type (70)->(71) or (72). Such reactions have been carried out with benzoyl halides, sulfonyl halides, isocyanates, isothiocyanates and chloroformates. Reactions occur under Schotten-Baumann conditions or in inert solvents. When two isomeric products could result, only the thermodynamically stable one is usually obtained because the acylation reactions are reversible and the products interconvert readily. Thus benzotriazole forms 1-acyl derivatives (99) which preserve the Kekule resonance of the benzene ring and are therefore more stable than the isomeric 2-acyl derivatives. Acylation of pyrazoles also usually gives the more stable isomer as the sole product (66AHCi6)347). The imidazole-catalyzed hydrolysis of esters can be classified as an electrophilic attack on the multiply bonded imidazole nitrogen. 

Irradiation of the substituted pyrazole (523) gave the imidazoles (524) and (525). The amount of each isomer formed is solvent dependent. In ethanol 7% of (524) was formed together with 2% of (525). In cyclohexane, however, isomerization was more efficient, the percentages of the two isomers being 20% and 10%, respectively. 

To a solution of methyl 3-oxobutanoate 127 (580 mg, 5 mmol) and l-methyl-2-methylthio-l//-imidazole-5-carboxaldehye 128 (390 mg, 2.5 mmol) in 5 mL of absolute methanol was added a solution of ammonium hydroxide (25%, 0.4 mL). The reaction was heated at reflux overnight before cooling to room temperature and removing the solvent. The crude product was purified by preparative TLC to afford 526 mg of dimethyl l,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-4-(l-methyl-2-methylthio-5-imidazolyl)-3,5-pyridine-dicarboxylate 129 (60%) as a solid, mp = 200-201 °C (MeOH). 

MO studies (AMI and AMI-SMI) on the tautomerism and protonation of 2-thiopurine have been reported [95THE(334)223]. Heats of formation and relative energies have been calculated for the nine tautomeric forms in the gas phase. Tire proton affinities were determined for the most stable tautomers 8a-8d. Tire pyrimidine ring in the thiones 8a and 8b has shown a greater proton affinity in comparison with the imidazole ring, or with the other tautomers. In solution, the thione tautomers are claimed to be more stabilized by solvent effects than the thiol forms, and the 3H,1H tautomer 8b is the most stable. So far, no additional experimental data or ab initio calculations have been reported to confirm these conclusions. 

To a stirred and refluxing solution of 40 parts of benzene and 35 parts of dimethylformamide (both solvents previously dried azeotropically) are added successively 1.6 parts of sodium hydride and 7.7 parts of Ct-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)imidazole-1-ethanol, (coolingon ice is necessary). After the addition is complete, stirring and refluxing is continued for 30 minutes. Then there are added 7.8 parts of 2,6-dichlorobenzyl chloride and the whole is stirred at reflux for another 3 hours. The reaction mixture is poured onto water and the product 1-[2,4-dichloro-/3 (2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)phenethyl] imidazole, is extracted with benzene. The extract is washed twice with water, dried, filtered and evaporated in vacuo. The bese residue is dissolved in a mixture of acetone and diisopropyl ether and to this solution is added an excess of concentrated nitric acid solution. The precipitated nitrate salt is filtered off and recrystallized from a mixture of methanol and diisopropyl ether, yielding 1-[2,4-dichloro- (2,6-dichlorobenzyl-oxv)phenethyl] imidazole nitrate melting point 179°C. 

The imidazole nucleus is often found in biologically active molecules,3 and a large variety of methods have been employed for their synthesis.4 We recently needed to develop a more viable process for the preparation of kilogram quantities of 2,4-disubstituted imidazoles. The condensation of amidines, which are readily accessible from nitriles,5 with a-halo ketones has become a widely used method for the synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted imidazoles. A literature survey indicated that chloroform was the most commonly used solvent for this reaction.6 In addition to the use of a toxic solvent, yields of the reaction varied from poor to moderate, and column chromatography was often required for product isolation. Use of other solvents such as alcohols,7 DMF,8 and acetonitrile9 have also been utilized in this reaction, but yields are also frequently been reported as poor. 

In conclusion, a scaleable process for the preparation of 2,4-subsituted imidazole from amidines and a-halo ketones is described. This method avoids the use of chloroform as solvent and affords the desired products in consistently good to excellent yields. 

This transformation can also be carried out under solvent-free conditions in a domestic oven using acidic alumina and ammoniiun acetate, with or without a primary amine, to give 2,4,5-trisubstituted or 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles, respectively (Scheme 15A) [69]. The automated microwave-assisted synthesis of a library of 2,4,5-triarylimidazoles from the corresponding keto-oxime has been carried out by irradiation at 200 ° C in acetic acid in the presence of ammonium acetate (Scheme 15B) [70]. Under these conditions, thermally induced in situ N - O reduction occurs upon microwave irradiation, to give a diverse set of trisubstituted imidazoles in moderate yield. Parallel synthesis of a 24-membered library of substituted 4(5)-sulfanyl-lff-imidazoles 40 has been achieved by adding an alkyl bromide and base to the reaction of a 2-oxo-thioacetamide, aldehyde and ammonium acetate (Scheme 15C) [71]. Under microwave-assisted conditions, library generation time was dramatically re-... 

The synthesis of imidazoles is another reaction where the assistance of microwaves has been intensely investigated. Apart from the first synthesis described since 1995 [40-42], recently a combinatorial synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted and 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles has been described on inorganic solid support imder solvent-free conditions [43]. Different aldehydes and 1,2 dicarbonyl compounds 42 (mainly benzil and analogues) were reacted in the presence of ammonium acetate to give the trisubstituted ring 43. When a primary amine was added to the mixture, the tetrasubstituted imidazoles were obtained (Scheme 13). The reaction was done by adsorption of the reagent on a solid support, such as silica gel, alumina, montmorillonite KIO, bentonite or alumina followed by microwave irradiation for 20 min in an open vial (multimode reactor). The authors observed that when a non-acid support was used, addition of acetic acid was necessary to obtain good yields of the products. 

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]. 

Fortunately, as the reaction is transferred from a purely organic solvent system to mixed organic-aqueous media, which are employed in most RP-HPLC separations, the apparent multiplicity of maxima in the time profile of the intensity dependence seems to be suppressed or to collapse to a reasonably simple biexponential-like dependence. As shown in Figure 11, simply changing the solvent from ethyl acetate to 95% aqueous acetonitrile and the catalyst from triethylamlne to imidazole produces a single maximum profile, one that is more easily modeled mathematically, as defined in Equation 4 ... 

The 0-silylation reaction of alcohols is important as a protection method of hydroxyl groups. 0-Silylations of liquid or crystalline alcohols with liquid or crystalline silyl chlorides were found to be possible in the solid state. For example, when a mixture of powdered L-menthol (26), ferf-butyldimethylsilyl chloride (27), and imidazole (28) was kept at 60 °C for 5 h, 0-tert-butyldi-methylsilyl L-menthol (29) was obtained in 97% yield [8] (Scheme 4). Similar treatments of 26 with the liquid silyl chlorides, trimethyl- (30a) and triethylsilyl chloride (30b), gave the corresponding 0-silylation products 31a (89%) and 31b (89%), respectively, in the yields indicated [8] (Scheme 4). However, 0-silylation of triisopropyl- (30c) and triphenylsilyl chloride (30d) proceeded with difficultly even at 120 °C and gave 31c (57%) and 31d (70%), respectively, in relatively low yields. Nevertheless, when the solvent-free silylation reactions at 120 °C were carried out using two equivalents of 30c and 30d, 31c (77%) and 31d (99%) were obtained, respectively, in relatively high yields. 

In the [Fe(pyimH)2](BPh4)2 and [Fe(pybimH)2](BPh4)2 complexes of the bidentate ligands pyimH = 2-(2 -pyridyl)imidazole and pybimH = 2-(2 -pyridyl)benzimidazole a significant solvent dependence of molar volumes and activation parameters was observed [90, 91], cf. Table 4. On the other hand, the activation volume for the T2 conversion AF l i solvent independent or... 

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