Sustainable Synthesis of 2‐Hydroxymethylbenzimidazoles using D‐Fructose as a C2 Synthon

Abstract

D-fructose, a biomass-derived carbohydrate has been identified as an environmentally benign C2 synthon in the preparation of synthetically useful 2-hydroxymethylbenzimidazole derivatives by coupling with 1,2 phenylenediamines. The proof of concept was established by synthesizing 23 examples using BF3.OEt2 (20 mol %), TBHP (5.5 M, decane) (1.0 equiv.) in CH3CN at 90 oC for 1 h. The pivotal features of this method include metal-free conditions, short time, good functional group tolerance, gram scale feasibility and the synthesis of benzimidazole fused 1,4-oxazine. Control studies with conventional C2 synthons did not produce the desired product suggesting a new reaction pathway from D-fructose.