Synthesis of Benzimidazoles by Phosphine‐Mediated Reductive Cyclisation of ortho‐Nitro‐anilides

Heating ortho‐nitro‐anilides 1 – 3 and 2‐methyl‐N‐(3‐nitropyridin‐2‐yl)propanamide ( 5 ) with 4 equiv. of a phosphine led to the 2‐substituted benzimidazoles 6 – 8 and to the imidazo[4,5‐b]pyridine 10 , respectively, in yields between 45 and 85%. Heating 1 with (EtO)₃P effected cyclisation and N‐ethylation, leading to the 1‐ethylbenzimidazole 6b . The slow cyclisation of the N‐pivaloylnitroaniline 2b allowed isolation of the intermediate phosphine imide 11 that slowly transformed into the 1H‐benzimidazole 7b . The structure of 11 was established by crystal‐structure analysis. While the N‐methylated ortho‐nitroacetanilide 3 cyclised to the 1,2‐dimethyl‐1H‐benzimidazole ( 8 ), the 2‐methylpropananilide 4 was transformed into 1‐methyl‐3‐(1‐methylethyl)‐2H‐benzimidazol‐2‐one ( 9 ).