Reaction of Dimethyl Acetylenedicarboxylate With 2-Mercaptoperimidine and 2-Mercaptobenzimidazole

A mixture of equimolar quantities of dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate ( 2 ) with either 2-mercaptoperimidine ( 1 ) or 2-mercaptobenzimidazole ( 5 ) was heated in absolute benzene in the presence of triphenylphosphine as a catalyst under reflux conditions for 1 h (the reaction was monitored by TLC until the consumption of the starting materials). The solvent was concentrated under vacuum and the residue was subjected to chromatographic plates using toluene-ethylacetate (2:1) as an eluent. The products in each reaction were separated as two migrating zones. Each zone was removed from the plate and recrystallized from the appropriate solvent. The products of the first reaction are 10-methoxy-11-oxo-11H-8-thia-7,11a-diaza-benzo[de]anthracene-9-carboxylic acid methyl ester ( 3 ) and 8-thia-7,10a-diaza-cyclopenta[a]phenalene-9,10-dicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester ( 4 ), while the products of the second reaction are 3-methoxy-4-oxo-4H-1-thia-4a,9-diaza-fluorene-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester ( 10 ) and benzo[4, 5]imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole-2,3-dicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester ( 11 ). The mechanisms of the observed reactions are suggested.