Syntheses of 1,3-Imidazoline-2-thione and 2-Phenylimino-1,3-thiazoline combinatorial libraries through different sequences of the same components

We have developed combinatorial libraries of new 1,3-imidazoline-2-thiones 5 and 2-phenylimino-1,3-thiazolines 7 by way of different reaction sequences of the same three components, gamma-chloroacetoacetanilides 1, amines 2, and isothiocyanates 3 in a parallel synthetic fashion. One of the building blocks, the gamma-chloroacetoacetanilides 1, was prepared by the sequential reaction of 4-methylene-oxetan-2-one (ketene dimer) with chlorine and various anilines. The condensation of 1 with amines gave dihydrofuran 4 intermediates that when reacted with 3 afforded the 1,3-imidazoline-2-thiones 5. On the other hand, reaction of 3 with 2 provided substituted thioureas 6 that were reacted with 1 to yield 2-phenylimino-1,3-thiazolines 7.