Highly Efficient Synthesis of Imidazolecarboxylate Salts via Sequential Nucleophilic Addition-Intramolecular Cyclization Reactions

In this work, we used a highly efficient and easy approach for synthesizing imidazolecarboxylate salt through the reaction between α-amidino carboxylic acids and α-halo ketones with as readily available starting materials in the presence of KHCO3 at THF under reflux. Targeted synthesis of this type of imidazole bearing the carboxylic acid group in a single structure, in addition to the biological properties enriched as a ligand, is very popular in the manufacture of catalysts. The salient features of this protocol include eco-friendly, high atom-economical, easy and mild conditions that led to the production of all products with high yields. Furthermore, all products were purified without the need for column chromatography through the GAP chemistry (group-assisted purification chemistry) technique.