Heterogeneous catalysts in the alkylation of imidazoles

The reaction of imidazoles with alcohols at 300–400°C was studied in the presence of heterogeneous -Al₂O₃ catalysts and Y zeolites. The major reaction was found to be N-alkylation. This reaction is accompanied by C-alkylation on -Al₂O₃ while the selectivity relative to N-alkylation is close to 100% on zeolite catalysts. The greatest activity with 100% selectivity was found for H zeolite. The alkylation of methanol and ethanol by 2-methylimidazole at 310–320°C gave 1,2-dimethylimidazole in -100% yield and 1-ethyl-2-methylimidazole in 90% yield respectively. The reaction of methanol and imidazole gave 1-methylimidazole in 99% yield. This catalyst displays high stability and capacity for oxidative regeneration.N. D. Zelinskii Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117913 Moscow. Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 624–628, May, 1994. Original article submitted April 20, 1994.