Thiazole, or 1,3-thiazole, is a clear to pale yellow flammable liquid with a pyridine-like odor and the molecular formula C3H3NS. It is a 5-membered ring, in which two of the vertices of the ring are nitrogen and sulfur, and the other three are carbons[1].
Certain thiazoles can be accessed though application of the Herz reaction.
Reactions
Thiazoles are characterized by larger pi-electron delocalization than the corresponding oxazoles and have therefore greater aromaticity. This is evidenced by the position of the ring protons in proton NMR (between 7.27 and 8.77 ppm), clearly indicating a strong diamagnetic ring current.
The calculated pi-electron density marks C5 as the primary electrophilic site, and C2 as the nucleophilic site.
The reactivity of a thiazole can be summarized as follows:
2-(trimethylsiliyl)thiazole[5] (with a trimethylsilyl group in the 2-position) is a stable substitute and reacts with a range of electrophiles such as aldehydes, acyl halides, and ketenes
Thiazoles can react in cycloadditions, but in general at high temperatures due to favorable aromatic stabilization of the reactant; Diels-Alder reactions with alkynes are followed by extrusion of sulfur, and the endproduct is a pyridine; in one study [4], a very mild reaction of a 2-(dimethylamino)thiazole with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD) to a pyridine was found to proceed through a zwitterionic intermediate in a formal [2+2]cycloaddition to a cyclobutene, then to a 1,3-thiazepine in an 4-electron electrocyclic ring openening and then to a 7-thia-2-azanorcaradiene in an 6-electron electrocyclic ring, closing before extruding the sulfur atom.
References
^The Chemistry of Heterocycles : Structure, Reactions, Syntheses, and Applications Theophil Eicher, Siegfried Hauptmann ISBN 3-527-30720-6
^ ab Mateo Alajarín, José Cabrera, Aurelia Pastor, Pilar Sánchez-Andrada, and Delia Bautista (2006). "On the [2+2] Cycloaddition of 2-Aminothiazoles and Dimethyl Acetylenedicarboxylate. Experimental and Computational Evidence of a Thermal Disrotatory Ring Opening of Fused Cyclobutenes". J. Org. Chem.71 (14): 5328–5339. doi:10.1021/jo060664c.