Simple and Efficient Copper-Catalyzed Approach to 2,4-Disubstituted Imidazolones

Abstract

Some imidazolone derivatives are biological and pharmaceutical active molecules and the chromophores of the fluorescent proteins. In this communication, a simple and efficient approach to 4-arylidene-2-alkyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-5-ones (2,4-disubstituted imidazolones) has been developed, and the protocol uses readily available 2-bromo-3-alkylacrylic acids and amidines as the starting materials without addition of any ligand or additive. The reactions were performed under mild conditions. Therefore, the present method will be of wide application in organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry.