Organotellurium Chemistry: Remarkably Facile Preparation of Benzo-1,3-tellurazoles

Benzo-1,3-tellurazoles carrying alkyl or aryl substituents in position 2 were prepared in a facile two-step sequence, starting with readily available 2-haloanilines. This approach relies on the preparation of bis(2-aminophenyl) ditellurides by nucleophilic halide displacement from 2-haloanilines with sodium telluride in N-methylpyrrolidone. Subsequent reductive cyclization with carboxylic acid halides or carboxylic anhydrides furnished benzo-1,3-tellurazoles in good yields.