Imidazole Synthesis and Chemistry
Imidazole is an aromatic 5-member ring organic compound containing two skeletal atoms other than carbon. Both of those are nitrogen. One of the molecule's resonance structures, if it actually existed, would contain a secondary amine group (-NH-), an imine group (=N-), and an alkene group (-C=C-). The other resonance structure would contain two imine groups and a methylene group (-CHâ‚‚-). Those structures are drawn below. However, imidazole doesn't act like either of them. This is typical for aromatic compounds. We will briefly discuss the ring's synthesis and chemistry. Synthesis Imidazole is formed by reacting glyoxal with formaldehyde in the presence of ammonium acetate in acetic acid. The driving energy is microwave radiation. More generally, this reaction is used to produce substituted imidazoles. The basic reaction, however, is written, OHC-CHO +…