Synthesis of 2,3-Dihydrothiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidin-5-ones by a Michael-type Tandem Reaction

Although various thiazoles are known in literature for their biological and pharmacological properties only a few multi-step synthesis pathways for the preparation of thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidinones have been reported, which are tedious and time-consuming. An alternative synthesis pathway is described, which allows the preparation of 2,3-dihydrothiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidin-5-ones in a one-step process based on a Michael-type tandem reaction. By heating of 2-thiobarbituric acid with ethyl 4-bromocrotonate in ethanol at 60°C for 2 h, a 2,3-dihydrothiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidin-5-one was obtained in 73% yield, whereas carrying out the reaction at room temperature results in the formation of an unstable unsaturated ester. The structures of both, the α,β-unsaturated ester as well as the 2,3-dihydrothiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidin-5-one were confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. Additionally, the structure of the 2,3-dihydrothiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidin-5-one was investigated by single-crystal X-ray analysis. The described approach offers a significant improvement over previously reported synthesis pathways because it allows the simple preparation of 2,3-dihydrothiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidin-5-ones with good yields in a one-step reaction.