Ammonium Hydroxide → 1-Butyl-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1H-imidazole

Participants

Reaction Steps

A mixture of 11 parts of 1-butyl-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(methylthio)-1H-imidazole monohydrochloride, 20 parts of Raney-nickel catalyst, 105 parts of ammonium hydroxide and 8 parts of methanol is stirred for 2 hours at room temperature. The Raney-nickel catalyst is filtered off and another 20 parts of Raney-nickel catalyst is added. The whole is stirred for another 2 hours at room temperature. The catalyst is filtered off and the filtrate is evaporated. The residue is taken up in a small amount of water and the product is extracted with dichloromethane. The extract is dried, filtered and evaporated. The residue is purified by column-chromatography over silica gel using a mixture of trichloromethane and methanol (97:3 by volume) as eluent. The pure fractions are collected and the eluent is evaporated, yielding 8 parts of 1-butyl-5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1H-imidazole as an oily residue.

Provenance & Evidence