High-temperature water unlocks urea as nitrogen-source towards imidazoles.

ABSTRACT: Urea is a non-toxic, harmless, and abundant bulk organic chemical featuring high nitrogen content. Therefore, urea could be a prime green candidate for introducing nitrogen atoms into organic molecules. In this regard, urea in organic synthesis has been mainly employed as building block, component of solvent systems, catalyst, or for pH adjustment, while uses of urea as NH₃-source towards the construction of small organic compounds are scarce. Here, nothing but high-temperature water (HTW) is employed to conduct the aquathermolysis of urea, generating NH₃ to propel the Debus-Radzsisweski multicomponent reaction (MCR) towards imidazoles. The approach does neither require additional catalysts nor reaction auxiliaries or volatile organic compounds as solvent. Urea was us

SUBMITTER: Amaya-Garcia F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11414530 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature