A novel synthesis of 2,5-diphenylpyrazine

The compound C₁₆H₁₂N₂ (2,5-diphenylpyrazine) was obtained as the by-product of synthesizing 5H-Imidazol[2,3-b]isoquinoline-1-ethanol-5-one,1,2,3,10b-tetrahydro-, β(S)-phenyl-3(S)-phenyl-(compound 2), and its structure was determined by X-ray diffraction. The crystal is monoclinic, P2(1)/c, a = 13.466(5) Å, α = 90.00º, b = 5.758(2) Å, β = 93.049(9)º, c = 7.713(3) Å, γ = 90.00º, V = 597.2(4) Å³, Z = 2, Dcalc. = 1.292 mg/m³; the final R factor is R₁ = 0.0592, 771 for reflections with I ₀ > 2σ(I ₀).