Unambiguous syntheses of four unreported monomethylated derivatives of 3-phenyldihydro-1,2,4-triazin-6(1H)-ones, namely, the 1-methyl (2), 2-methyl (3), 4-methyl (4) and the imidic O-methyl derivative (5), are described. Regioselectivity was achieved for the synthesis of (2) by addition of ethyl glycinate to the 1,3-dipolar nitrile imine derived from N- methylbenzohydrazonoyl bromide hydrobromide (8). The key step for the synthesis of (3) was addition of benzyl 3-methylcarbazate (14) to ethyl N-[ chloro (phenyl) methylene ] glycinate (15b). The 4-methyl compound (4) was prepared by cycloaddition of ethyl N-( thiobenzoyl ) sarcosinate (21) with hydrazine hydrate, and the O-methyl compound (5) was prepared by reaction of sodium methoxide with 6-chloro-3-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1,2,4-triazine (23).
The development of the frustrated Lewis pair catalyzed hydrogenation of tertiary and secondary amides is reviewed. Detailed insight into our strategies in order to overcome challenges during the reaction development process is provided. Furthermore, the developed chemistry is extended to the hydrogenation of polyamides and of trifluoroacetamides for the convenient introduction of trifluoroethyl groups into organic molecules.