Peculiarities of the chemical properties of vicinally disubstituted veratrole and synthesis of 1-methyl-4,5-dimethoxybenzimidazole derivatives

Various paths for the synthesis of 4-methylamino-3-aminoveratrole (I) from 4-amino-3-nitroveratrole (II) were investigated, and it was found that I can be obtained in a high overall yield of 65% through the tosyl derivative of II. 1-Methyl-4,5-dimethoxybenzimidazolone, 1-methyl-4,5-dimethoxybenzimidazole and its 2-phenyl-, 2-chloro-, and 2-dimethylamino derivatives were synthesized on the basis of I in order to investigate their biological activity. It was established that the chemical properties of vicinally disubstituted veratrole, particularly the increased basicity of II, are determined to a significant degree by steric strains caused by bulky substituents. It is shown that 85% formic acid can be successfully used in place of 98–100% formic acid for the N-formylation of aromatic amines with a mixture of formic acid and acetic anhydride.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 10, pp. 1387–1392, October, 1970.