Title:Radziszewski Reaction: An Elegant, Easy, Simple and Efficient Method to Synthesise Imidazoles
VOLUME: 11 ISSUE: 6
Author(s):July A. Hernandez Munoz, Joel J. Junior and Flavia Martins da Silva
Affiliation:Síntese Organica Ambiental (SOA), Departamento de Quimica Organica, Instituto de Quimica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Centro de Tecnologia, Bloco A, Cidade Universitaria, CP 68.584, 21941-590 Rio de Janeiro – RJ – Brasil.
Keywords:Aldehydes, benzyl, glyoxaline heterocycles, imidazoles, radziszewski reaction.
Abstract:Imidazoles are a fascinating group of heterocyclic molecules with varying biological properties. Additionally, they form the
nucleus of several commercial drugs. In this review, we describe the history of imidazoles from their discovery to their structural determination.
We show that different synthetic methodologies are found in the literature. However, this review focuses on the evolution of
the Radziszewski reaction used to synthesise tri- and tetra- substituted imidazoles, the different modifications of this reaction and the
utilisation of new tools to construct these compounds. This review as a whole demonstrates the importance of a reaction that is over one
century old and is still better than the newer alternatives.
