THERMAL REARRANGEMENT OF 1,4-DINITROIMIDAZOLE TO 2,4-DINITROIMIDAZOLE - CHARACTERIZATION AND INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANISM BY MASS-SPECTROMETRY AND ISOTOPE LABELING

The thermal rearrangement of 1,4-dinitroimidazole to 2,4-dinitroimidazole has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and mass spectrometry techniques. When mixtures of independently prepared deuterium and N-15-labeled samples of the 1,4-isomer were subjected to thermal rearrangement, the resulting 2,4-dinitroimidazole failed to show isotope-scrambled molecular ions in its mass spectrum, suggesting that the reaction was intramolecular in nature. This was interpreted to mean that the mechanism was of the (1,5)-sigmatropic type rearrangement. Extensive NMR measurements were used to obtain unequivocal evidence for the identity of the assumed structures of the isomeric dinitroimidazoles. Two byproducts (4-nitroimidazole and a trinitroimidazole), formed during the rearrangement reaction, have also been identified. Plausible mechanisms for their formation are discussed.