Water → Ethyl 2-amino-4-(trifluoromethyl)-1,3-oxazole-5-carboxylate

A mechanically-stirred mixture of 53.2 g (0.885 mol) of urea and 38.6 g (0.177 mol) of ethyl α-chloro-γ,γ,γ-trifluoroacetoacetate was reacted in 50 ml dry dimethylformamide at 100°-110° C. for 71 hours. The reaction mixture was cooled to ambient temperature and the resulting orange slurry was poured into 500 ml of water and then cooled in an ice bath. Suction filtration of the mixture provided a mustard-colored solid material which when dried under an infrared lamp yielded 26.0 g of material. This solid material was slurried in hot chloroform, then cooled in an ice bath to yield 22.1 g of beige plate-like crystal material (m.p. 193-195° C.). A second crystal crop was obtained after concentration of the slurry residue, recrystallization in hot ether and filtration through glass wool. Total yield was 22.4 g of crystal product (m.p.=193°-195° C.) identified in Table 1.