Synthesis of optically active 1-(1-phenylethyl)-1H-imidazoles derived from 1-phenylethylamine

The three-component reaction of (R)- or (S)-1-phenylethylamine (6), formaldehyde, and an alpha-(hydroxyimino) ketone 5, i.e., 3-(hydroxyimino)butan-2-one (5a) or 2-(hydroxyimino)-1,2-diphenylethanone (5b), yields the corresponding enantiomerically pure 1-(1-phenylethyl) -1H-imidazole 3-oxide 7 in high yield (Schemes 2 and 3). The reactions are carried out either in MeOH or in AcOH. Smooth transformations of the N-oxides into optically active 1-(1-phenylethyl)-1H-imidazoles 10 and 2,3-dihydro-1 -(1-phenylethyl)-1H-imidazole-2-thiones 11 are achieved by treatment of 7 with Raney-Ni and 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-thioxocyclobutanone (12), respectively (Scheme 4).