Microwave‐Assisted Solvent‐Free Regiospecific Synthesis of 5‐Alkylidene and 5‐Arylidenehydantoins

Abstract

Hydantoins have become a well‐known class of structures that have found significant applications as agrochemicals and therapeutics. This structural motif is of interest in the synthesis of small building blocks suitable for the preparation of potentially bioactive molecules. In this sense, 5‐alkylidene and 5‐arylidenehydantoins constitute nice examples of precursors of synthetic α‐amino acids. The microwave‐assisted synthesis of these compounds under green chemistry conditions is reported in this article. The method has proved to afford yields of 74–96%.

Keywords:

• 5‐Alkylidenehydantoins
• 5‐arylidenehydantoins
• microwave irradiation
• organic synthesis
• sodium acetate/alumina
• solvent free

Acknowledgments

Financial support by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI, Programa de Cooperación Interuniversitaria entre España y Marruecos, 21/03/AC) is gratefully acknowledged.