Iodine-mediated regioselective guanylation-amination of propargylamines towards the synthesis of diversely substituted 2-aminoimidazoles

A diversity-oriented approach for the synthesis of 2-aminoimidazoles is presented. The method involves the cyclization of secondary propargylamines using iodine allowing the generation of diversely-substituted 2-aminoimidazoles. The iodo group generated during cyclization can be used for further modification, which is an additional asset of this method.