Formaldehyde → [2-(2-Methylphenyl)-1H-imidazole-4,5-diyl]dimethanol

Participants

Reaction Conditions

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 15.8 g (0.1 mole) of 2-o-tolylimidazole 9 g (0.3 mole) of paraformaldehyde, 2 g (0.015 mole) of potassium carbonate and 50 ml of methyl cellosolve was heated at 90° C. for 30 minutes with stirring in the same way as in Example 1. Then, 200 ml of water was added, and the reaction mixture was boiled for a while and cooled. The crystals were collected by filtration, boiled together with 20 g of toluene, and collected by filtration. The crystals collected were dissolved in acetone, and a small amount of activated carbon was added. The mixture was filtered, and the filtrate was evaporated to dryness to afford 2-o-tolyl-4,5-dihydroxymethyl imidazole as a final product in an amount of 1 g (yield 5%). The thin-layer chromatography (alumina G, ethanol) of the crystals gave only one spot at Rf = 0.6-0.8.

Provenance & Evidence