Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds, Vol. 38, No. 6, 2002
RING–RING TAUTOMERISM
IN THE SERIES OF ISOXAZOLIDINE
AND ∆2-ISOXAZOLINE DERIVATIVES
A. Yu. Ershov
We have studied the reaction of 5-hydroxy-3,3,5-trimethylisoxazolidine and 5-hydroxy-3,5-dimethyl-∆2-
isoxazoline with derivatives of thiosemicarbazide and also thiocarbonohydrazine. Both reactions serve
as a method for synthesis of the previously unknown 5-thiosemicarbazido(thiocarbonohydrazino)-
isoxazolidines and -∆2-isoxazolines. 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy revealed a tendency of the indicated
compounds toward ring–chain and ring–ring tautomeric conversions in solutions involving the
1,2,4-triazolidine, ∆2-pyrazoline, and 1,2,4,5-tetrazine rings.
Keywords: isoxazolidines, ∆2-isoxazolines, ∆2-pyrazolines, tetrahydro-1,2,4,5-tetrazine-2-thiones,
1,2,4-triazolidine-3-thiones, ring–ring tautomerism.
Interest in 5-substituted isoxazolidines and ∆2-isoxazolines in which the substituent, most often OH or
NHR, is directly bonded to the isoxazole ring, is due to the possibility of novel isomeric (tautomeric)
conversions, since the presence of the cyclic hemiacetal moiety in such molecules suggests an elevated tendency
toward rupture of the C(5)–O bond to form linear structures (ring–chain isomerism or tautomerism) [1]. In a
number of cases, we may also observe subsequent intramolecular addition of functional nucleophilic moieties at
the polar bonds C=O or C=N contained in the resulting linear molecules, and formation of novel cyclic
structures (ring–ring isomerism or tautomerism) [2]. This may be illustrated by the examples we observed
recently of recyclization of 1-arylpyrimidin-2(1H)-ones to 5-arylureido-∆2-isoxazolines when they are treated
with hydroxylamine [3] (a typical variant of the ANRORC process [4]), and also ring–ring tautomeric equilibria
in solutions of the 5-hydrazino-∆2-isoxazoline – 5-hydroxyamino-∆2-pyrazoline [5] or isoxazolidine –
tetrahydropyrimidine-2(1H)-thione [6] type.
Introduction of a thiosemicarbazide or thiocarbonohydrazine functional group at the 5 position of the
isoxazole ring suggests the possibility of complex tautomeric (isomeric) conversions involving additional cyclic
forms in addition to isoxazoline (∆2-isoxazoline) and linear forms. The tendency toward cyclization of
2(4)-substituted thiosemicarbazones and thiocarbohydrazones to derivatives of 1,2,4-triazolidine-3-thione and
tetrahydro-1,2,4,5-tetrazine-2-thione respectively is a general property of compounds in these classes [7-9].
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The basic criterion for selecting a specific cyclic structure is the C NMR spectroscopy data. Thus for
the isoxazolidine (∆2-isoxazoline) form, the appearance of a signal from the sp3-hybridized C(5) atom at 100 ppm
(N,C,O-environment) is characteristic [5]. In the five-membered triazolidine ring, the analogous C(5) atom has a
chemical shift at 85 ppm (N,C,N-environment) [7], while in the six-membered tetrazine ring, the signal from the
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Institute of High-Molecular Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 199004, Russia;
e-mail: ershov@hq.macro.ru. Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 6, pp. 828-836,
June, 2002. Original article submitted March 6, 2000.
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0009-3122/02/3806-0730$27.00©2002 Plenum Publishing Corporation