Reactions of 4-benzoyl-5-phenylamino-2,3-dihydrothiophene-2,3-dione and diaminomaleonitrile in the presence of alcohols as reactant and solvent

2,3-Diaminomaleonitrile: A Multifaceted Synthon in Organic Synthesis

2,3-Diaminomaleonitrile (DAMN), a tetramer of hydrogen cyanide, displays weakly basic properties and has reactivity comparable to o-phenylenediamine. It has emerged as a versatile, cheap as well as a readily accessible building block towards the synthesis of a variety of organic compounds. The present review focuses on the applications of 2,3-diaminomaleonitrile for the synthesis of Schiff's base, imidazoles, pyrazines, quinoxolines, benzodiazocines, 1,4-diazepines, purines, pyrimidines, pyrazine-tetrazole hybrids, triazoles, thiadiazole, thiazolidines, porphyrazines, formamidines, 1,3,5-triazepines, pyrrolo[3,4-b][1,4]diazepin-6(3H)-ones, triaza[22]annulenes, pyrrolo[3,4-f][1,3,5]triazepines, spiro compounds, pyrazoles and 2,3-dicyano-5,7-bismethylthieno[3,4-b]pyrazine.

Synthesis of Organic Ligands via Reactions of 4-Benzoyl-5-phenylamino-2,3-dihydrothiophene-2,3-dione with N-Nucleophiles

The reaction of 4-benzoyl-5-phenylamino-2,3-dihydrothiophene-2,3-dione (1) with aminoheteroaryls, lamotrigine, 1,3-diaminoheteroaryls, dapsone, NH2R (hydroxylamine, DL-1-phenylethylamine, and metformin), and 4,4′-bipyridine in THF/H2O (1 : 1) at room temperature led to 3-N-phenylthiocarbamoyl-2-butenamides 2–5, while that with naphthylamines and 1,3-phenylenediamine in ethanol at high temperature led to 5-phenylamino-2,5-dihydrothiophene-2-ones 6–8 as organic ligands in the medium to good yields. These showed the nucleophilic attacks of N-nucleophiles, except primary aromatic amines, on thioester carboxyl group (C-2) of thiophene-2,3-dione ring 1. However, the nucleophilic attacks of primary aromatic amines on the carbonyl group (C-3) of thiophene-2,3-dione 1 occurred in the form of substituted thiophenes.

Diaminomaleonitrile as a versatile building block for the synthesis of 4,4′-biimidazolidinylidenes and 4,4′-bithiazolidinylidenes

Ring closure reactions of diaminomaleonitrile (DAMN) with electrophilic aryl isocyanates and aryl isothiocyanates lead to the formation of the target 5,5′-diimino-1,1′-diaryl-4,4′-biimidazolidinylidene-2,2′-diones 2a,b and 2,2′-diarylimino-4,4′-bithiazolidinylidenes 4a–e, respectively. The protocol provides a new strategy for the synthesis of a wide range of alkenes with two electron-donating and two withdrawing substituents of DAMN in moderate to good yields.

Synthesis of 2,3-dicyanopyrazine and ethyl 5-amino-4,6-dicyanobiphenyl-3-carboxylate derivatives from ethyl aroylpyruvates

Reactions of ethyl 4-aryl-2,4-dioxobutanoates1a–cat ambient temperature with diaminomaleonitrile in glacial acetic acid and with malononitrile in ethanol/H2O (1:1) led to the formation of 5-(2-aryl-2-oxoethyl)-6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyrazine-2,3-dicarbontrile2a–cand ethyl 5-amino-4,6-dicyanobiphenyl-3-carboxylate derivatives3a–c, respectively.