A traceless solid supported protocol for the synthesis of 2-aminobenzothiazoles is described, employing resin-bound acyl-isothiocyanate and a series of anilines. Cyclization of the resulting N-acyl, N'-phenylthioureas generates the 2-aminobenzothiazole scaffold, which can be further elaborated prior to hydrazine-mediated cleavage of the final products from the carboxy-polystyrene resin. A small, focused library of 2-aminobenzothiazoles was prepared. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.