Intramolecular rearrangement of α-amino acid amide derivatives of 2-aminobenzothiazoles

We have found that α-amino acid amide derivatives of 2-aminobenzothiazoles undergo a time-dependent, thermal rearrangement in which the amine group attacks the 2-position carbon of the thiazole ring to form a 5,5-spiro ring system. This is followed by sulfur leaving and air oxidation to the corresponding symmetrical disulfide. The isolated yields of such products are quite high (>70%) if there is conformational bias to further promote the intramolecular reaction such as for the 2-aminobenzothiazole amides derived from proline or 4-aminopiperidine-4-carboxylic acid. This rearrangement has not been described previously for α-amino acid amide derivatives of 2-aminobenzothiazoles. However, a related reaction involving 2-semicarbazido benzothiazoles has been recently reported.