Formamide → 5,5-dimethyl-6,7-dihydro-3H-cyclopenta[d]pyrimidin-4(5H)-one

A mixture of ethyl 2,2-dimethyl-5-oxocyclopentanecarboxylate (3.426 g) and ammonium acetate (14.33 g) in EtOH (100 mL) was heated at 85° C. (bath) for 1 hour. The contents were concentrated. The residue was partitioned between water and DCM. The organic phase was separated. The aqueous solution was extracted with DCM. The combined DCM solutions were washed with water and dried (Na2SO4). Upon filtration and concentration, solid ethyl 2-amino-5,5-dimethylcyclopent-1-enecarboxylate (2.933 g) was yielded. The ethyl 2-amino-5,5-dimethylcyclopent-1-enecarboxylate was mixed with ammonium formate (5.054 g) and formamide (7 mL) and heated at 150° C. for 16 hours. The mixture was diluted with water and extracted with 5:1 DCM-IPA. The combined extracts were dried (Na2SO4) and concentrated to give 5,5-dimethyl-6,7-dihydro-3H-cyclopenta[d]pyrimidin-4(5H)-one as a viscous oil (1.185 g). 5,5-Dimethyl-6,7-dihydro-3H-cyclopenta[d]pyrimidin-4(5H)-one (1.063 g) was dissolved in acetonitrile (20 mL) with POCl3 (1.78 mL). The mixture was heated at 80° C. for 10 hours. The mixture was cooled to 0° C. 50% KOH (15.3 mL) was added dropwise. t-Butyl piperazine-1-carboxylate (3.615 g) was added. The mixture was heated at 80° C. for 24 hours. The contents were concentrated. Water was added. The mixture was extracted with DCM (2×) and dried (Na2SO4). The crude material was purified with flash chromatography to give tert-butyl 4-(5,5-dimethyl-6,7-dihydro-5H-cyclopenta[d]pyrimidin-4-yl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (1.021 g). 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ (ppm): 8.57 (s, 1H), 3.56-3.54 (m, 4H), 3.37-3.34 (m, 4H), 2.90 (t, J=7.3 Hz, 2H), 1.89 (t, J=7.3 Hz), 3H) 1.48 (s, 9H), 1.40 (s, 6H). MS: 333.2 (M+1).