547.913+547.94+547.833.3 E. S. Limanskii, and M. I. VakhrinAlkylation under phase-transfer catalysis conditions (18-crown-6/KOH) of eugenol was used for cyclocondensation with nitriles (Ritter reaction), the products of which were isoquinoline derivatives.Eugenol (1, 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol) is the main constituent of essential oil from Syzygium aromaticum (Eugenia caryophyllata) (Myrtaceae), Camelia sasanqua (Theaceae), certain basil species (Ocimum) (Lamiaceae), and other plants [1,2].Various isoquinoline derivatives, many of which can be viewed as synthetic alkaloid analogs, were prepared earlier by cyclocondensation of nitriles with dialkylbenzylcarbinols (Ritter reaction) [3]. The capability for this type of cyclocondensation involving instead of a carbinol 3,4-dimethoxy-and 3,4-methylenedioxyallylbenzenes, which are very similar to eugenol, was demonstrated in classical seminal studies [4,5]. The goal of the present study was to use in analogous syntheses eugenol derivatives and nitriles that were verified by us earlier in reactions with carbinols.Syntheses with a protected phenol hydroxyl were carried out first. The studies showed that the eugenol hydroxyl can be alkylated practically quantitatively under phase-transfer catalysis conditions using 18-crown-6/KOH. Alkylation of 1 by iodomethane or iodoethane formed the corresponding ethers 2 and 3, which were used without further purification in the next step of the Ritter cyclocondensation. Use of hydrogen cyanide [6], acetonitrile [7], and homoveratryl nitrile instead of benzylcyanide [8], chloroacetonitrile [9], and 3-cyanocoumarin [10] as the nitrile component formed the corresponding 3,4-dihydroisoquinolines 4-8. By analogy, reaction of allylbenzenes 2 and 3 with cyanoacetic acid amide produced amides 9 and 10 [11]. The fact that the cyclization occurred without protecting the phenol hydroxyl was interesting. The reaction of eugenol with cyanoacetamide gave enaminoamide 11. Me H 8 5 4 1 a b MeO R 1 O NH Me H O NH 2 2, 3 4 -8 c c 9 -114: R 1 = Et, R 2 = H; 5: R 1 = R 2 = Me 6: R 1 = Me, R 2 = 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl; 7: R 1 = Me, R 2 = CH 2 Cl 8: R 1 = Me, R 2 = 3-coumarinyl; 2, 9: R 1 = Me; 3, 10: R 1 = Et; 11: R 1 = H a. R 1 I, 18-crown-6/KOH; b. R 2 CN; c. NCCH 2 C(O)NH 2