Product analyses of ozone mediated nitration of benzimidazole derivatives with nitrogen dioxide: formation of 1-nitrobenzimidazoles and conversion to benzotriazoles.

ABSTRACT

Several benzimidazole derivatives having electron-withdrawing or -donating substituent(s) at the benzene moiety were used as models of the imidazole moiety of purine bases and their nitration with nitrogen dioxide and ozone (so-called Kyodai nitration) were examined. Products were extracted from the reaction mixture with AcOEt and their structures were analyzed. 1-Nitrobenzimidazole derivatives and unexpected 1-nitrobenzotriazole derivatives were identified. Although the yields of 1-nitrobenzimidazole derivatives were quite low, these were all new compounds that could be obtained only by Kyodai nitration. It was speculated that benzotriazoles were formed via 1-nitrobenzimidazoles and subsequent nitration toward benzotriazoles resulted in the formation of 1-nitrobenzotriazoles.