One-pot Synthesis of 1-Vinyl-2-pyrrolidone with Protic Functional Groups in 3-Position

A synthetic route that allows modification of 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone with an alcohol or thiol group in its 3-position in a one-pot reaction without using protecting groups is described. The strategy used to achieve this goal is the reaction of the carboxamide anion of 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone with cyclic precursors of these functionalities. It is furthermore shown that VP-monomers functionalized with OH groups are suitable for the preparation of the corresponding copolymers with pure VP. As a second application of the new compounds, we also describe the synthesis of the first asymmetric crosslinker based on VP.