| Abstract: | Reaction of readily available 2-methyl-4-formylthiazole ( 1 ) with glyoxal and ammonia gave 2-(2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)imidazole ( 2 ). Nitration of 2 with a mixture of nitric acid-sulfuric acid at 100° yielded 2-(2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)-4,5-dinitroimidazole ( 3 ) as the sole reaction product, while nitration at 65° afforded 2-(2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)-4-(or 5)-nitroimidazole ( 4 ). N-Methylation of compound 4 in the presence of base gave 1-methyl-2-(2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)4-nitroimidazole ( 6 ), whereas N-methylation with diazomethane afforded 1-methyl-2-(2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)-5-nitroimidazole ( 5 ). N-Methylation of compound 3 yielded 1-methyl-2-(2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)-3,5-dinitroimidazole ( 7 ) in high yield. |
