| Abstract: | Ribosylation of the trimethylsilyl derivative ( 1b ) of imidazole-2-thione ( 1a ) using either stannic chloride or silver perchlorate as catalyst resulted in the formation of the acylated derivatives of 1-(β-D-ribofuranosyl)imidazole-2-thione ( 3c ) and 1,3-di-(β-D-ribofuranosyl)imidazole-2-thione ( 4c ) with the latter predominating ( 4c:3c , ca. 2:1 ). The diribosylated nucleoside 4c was shown to be the N,N-disubstituted product rather than the N,S-disubstituted product by 1H nmr and 13C nmr spectroscopy. Employment of the iodine-catalyzed fusion procedure reversed the aforementioned product ratios and provided the monoriboside 3c in excellent yield. When the trimethylsilyl derivative ( 5b ) of 2-methylthioimidazole ( 5a ) was reacted with 2,3,5-tri-O-benzoyl-D-ribofuranosyl bromide ( 2d ) in acetonitrile, the major product was 1,3-di-(2,3,5-tri-O-benzoyl-β-D-ribofuranosyl)-imidazole-2-thione ( 4b ). The formation of 4b in this reaction is thought to arise via the Hilbert-Johnson mechanism. |
