Ammonium Acetate → 5-Benzyl-4-isopropyl-2-methylimidazole

Participants

Reaction Steps

To a solution of 1.00 g of 4-acetylamino-2-methyl-5-phenyl-3-pentanone (4.29 mmol) in 20 ml of acetic acid is added 5.00 g of ammonium acetate (64.9 mmol), and the resultant mixture is heated under reflux. One hour later, the reaction mixture is concentrated in vacuo, neutralized with aqueous sodium bicarbonate and extracted with ethyl acetate. The extract is washed with saturated brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and the filtrate is concentrated. The crude product is recrystallized from ether/n-hexane to give 0.90 mg of the objective 5-benzyl-4-isopropyl-2-methylimidazole 6. Yield, 97.5%.

Provenance & Evidence