Stoichiometric reaction of 2‐aminopyrimidine with formaldehyde in the presence of formic acid catalyst in water gave N,N′‐bis(2‐pyrimidinyl)methanediamine ( 5 ). Subsequent cyclocondensation of 5 with glyoxal in alcohol (MeOH, EtOH, PrOH and i‐PrOH) under reflux conditions led to the formation of the corresponding 4,5‐dialkoxy‐1,3‐bis(2‐pyrimidinyl)imidazolidines ( 6a‐d ). 4,5‐Dihydroxy‐1,3‐bis(2‐pyrimidinyl) imidazolidine ( 6e ) was obtained when the reaction was carried out in acetonitrile. Based on 1H NMR analysis, it was found that the trans‐dialkoxyimidazolidines ( 6 ) were selectively obtained in these cyclocondensation reactions.
