Sodium Hydroxide → 2-Thioxanthine

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

3.19 g of 3-(3-chlorobenzyl)-8-isopropyl-xanthine and 2.67 g of phosphorus pentasulfide were heated under reflux in 35 ml of pyridine for 5 hours. After cooling to -5° C., 13.2 ml (26.4 mM) of 2N NaOH were added over 15 minutes. The reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness, the residue suspended in water, the pH adjusted to 7.5 and the solid collected. The product was redissolved in 100 ml of 1N NaOH, treated with charcoal (5%), filtered and neutralized to pH 7.5. The solid was collected, washed and dried to give 2.29 g of crude thioxanthine. The product was dissolved in 250 ml of chloroform and filtered through 15 g of silica gel. The collected material was reprecipitated from NaOH by neutralization with HCl to give the title compound (2.38 g) as an off-white solid mp 218-20° C.

Provenance & Evidence