Reaction of triflyl-imidazole with aldoximes: facile synthesis of nitriles and formation of novel aldoxime-bis(N-triflyl)-imidazole adducts

The synthetic utility of N-triflylimidazole as an in situ reagent for facile, high yielding, synthesis of various aliphatic, aromatic, and heteroaromatic nitriles from the corresponding aldoximes has been demonstrated. With benzaldoximes, in the presence of certain substitutents (2-F; 2-OMe; 3-CF3; 2-Me-5-F) a different course of reaction was observed, leading instead to novel 1:1 aldoxime-bis(N-triflyl)imidazole covalent adducts, in which the aldoxime oxygen atom is bonded to the imidazole C-2 ring carbon. For these aldoximes, conversion to nitrile could be effected by reaction with Tf2O in the absence of imidazole. The molecular structure of the adduct formed from 2-methyl-5-fluoro-benzaldoxime was confirmed by X-ray analysis. Plausible mechanisms for the formation of 1:1 covalent adducts have been considered. Various attempts to isolate such adducts via the reaction of an authentic sample of bis(N-triflyl)imidazolium trifate with aldoxime were unsuccessful. Remarkably, whereas isolated benzaldoxime adducts undergo deprotonation/methylation with NaH/MeI, an authentic sample of bis(N-triflyl)imidazolium triflate did not undergo H/Me exchange under these conditions. These transformations are discussed.