A Decarboxylative C(sp³)−N Bond Forming Reaction to Construct 4-Imidazolidinones via Post-Ugi Cascade Sequence in One Pot

A post-Ugi one-pot cascade was developed to access 4-imidazolidinones through an intramolecular decarboxylative C(sp³)−N bond forming reaction. The reaction has a broad tolerance for a variety of substituted aldehydes, anilines, isocyanides and glyoxylic acids. The cascade reaction scope was expanded to synthesize spiroimidazolidinone by the replacement of aldehyde with aliphatic ketone in the Ugi reaction. Subsequently, the methodology was applied to synthesize the core structures of pharmaceuticals GSK2137305 and SCH 900822 under the mild and facile conditions with one purification. This cascade reaction generates opportunities for the tailored synthesis of a range of biologically active 4-imidazolidinones through tuneable Ugi inputs. (Figure presented.).