Dimedone-catalyzed Addition of Amines into Cyano Group： Facile Synthesis of Thiazol-2-yl Substituted E-Acrylonitriles

An efficient dimedone-catalyzed synthesis of highly functionalized thiazol-2-yl substituted E-acrylonitrile derivatives has been established through two-step reaction of a-thiocyanate ketones with malononitrile and amines. The a-thiocyanate ketones were subjected with malononitrile to provide thiazol-2-ylidenemalononitrile derivatives, followed with various amines in the presence of dimedone to yield the final thiazol-2-yl substituted acrylonitrile derivatives.