Molecular rearrangement of 1-substituted 9b-hydroxy-3,3a,5,9b-tetrahydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-c]quinoline-2,4-diones—an unexpected pathway to new indole and imidazolinone derivatives

1-Substituted 3a-alkyl/aryl-9b-hydroxy-3,3a,5,9b-tetrahydro-1H-imidazo[4,5-c]quinoline-2,4-diones and 3′-substituted 3-alkyl/aryl-3-ureido-1H,3H-quinoline-2,4-diones react in boiling acetic acid to give 2-alkyl/aryl-1H-indol-3-yl-ureas and/or 1,3-bis[2-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-phenyl]-ureas. By the action of hydrochloric acid, the first of them rearrange to give 4-(2-aminophenyl)-1,3-dihydroimidazol-2-ones. The structure of 1,3-bis[2-(2-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazol-4-yl)-phenyl]-ureas was confirmed by their synthesis. All compounds were characteried by their ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR spectra, atmospheric pressure chemical ioniation mass spectra, and some of them also by ¹⁵N NMR spectroscopic data.