Three-component acid-catalyzed cyclocondensation of 3,5-di-tret-butyl-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde with urea and ethyl acetoacetate or α-nitroacetophenone (Biginelli reaction) under homogeneous conditions gave the corresponding 5-substituted 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones having in position 4 of the heteroring an aryl substituent with sterically shielded hydroxy group. The condensation catalyzed by inorganic salts (Fe 3+ , Co 2+ , Zn 2+ , Li + ) was successful only with ethyl acetoacetate as initial methylene-active component. Under analogous conditions, acetophenone and 4-fluoroacetophenone gave rise to 4,6-diarylpyrimidin-2(1H)-ones which are capable of undergoing phenol-quinonemethide tautomerism.3,4-Dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activity, but the most interesting is their ability to modulate calcium channels [1-3]. We found that 4-aryl-5-nitro-6-phenyl-3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones are low-toxic compounds and that they exert an appreciable antiarrhythmic effect even at a very low dose [4]. A usual technique in the design of biologically active compounds with a broad spectrum of biological activity is incorporation into a biologically active molecule of one or several additional pharmacophoric groups with a different activity [5]. In this connection, introduction into a 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2-one molecule of a phenol fragment having sterically shielded hydroxy group could give rise to new properties, e.g., antiradical and antioxidant activity. Heterocyclic compounds containing a 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl group have been reported to exhibit antioxidant activity in combination with other kinds of biological activity. Examples are calcium channel antagonists of the 1,4-dihydropyridine [6] and thiazolidinone series [7], antisclerotic agents of the oxadiazole series [8], and lipoprotein oxidation inhibitors of the dihydropyrazole series [9]. Compounds possessing antioxidant properties were found among 4-aryl-3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2-one derivatives substituted at the 5-position with an alkoxycarbonyl group having both simple and bulky alkyl radicals [10].In the present work we tried to synthesize new 4-aryl-3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones with a sterically shielded hydroxy group in the aryl substituent. For this purpose, we examined three-component cyclocondensation of 3,5-di(tert-butyl)-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (I) with urea (IIa) or N-methylurea (IIb) and various compounds having an activated methylene group. As the latter, we used both traditional ethyl acetoacetate and less reactive CH acids, α-nitroacetophenone (III), acetophenone (IV), and 4-fluoroacetophenone (V).The reaction of ethyl acetoacetate with aldehyde I and urea (IIa) under standard Biginelli conditions (heating in boiling ethanol in the presence of a catalytic amount of hydrochloric acid) gave ethyl 4-(3,5-ditert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-6-methyl-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxylate (VIa) in 48% yield (Scheme 1). The condensation in the presence of inorganic salts, such as FeCl 3 · 6 H 2 O, CoCl 2 · 6 ...