547.945The reaction of cytisine with formalin in various solvents was studied. Methylene-bis-cytisine was produced in addition to the expected N-methylolcytisine in all solvents except acetone, in which N-(3-oxobutyl)cytisine was produced.The combination of various natural fragments in a single molecule is interesting regarding their mutual effect on the biological activity of the resulting compounds. In this regard, N-methylolcytisine (1) might be an interesting synthon [1].The preparation of 1 by reaction of cytisine (2) with formalin (35%) in ether and the formation of bis-cytisinomethane (3) by the reaction in absolute alcohol with added Ca(OH) 2 have been reported [1].The use of ether as the solvent for production of 1 was impractical because of the poor solubility of cytisine in it. Therefore, we compared the reaction of cytisine with formalin (30%) in various solvents (ether, methanol, ethanol, hexane, chloroform, water, dioxane, acetone).The reaction mixture of cytisine and formalin in the appropriate solvents was held at room temperature for 4-6 h. Chromatographic monitoring showed that a certain amount of unreacted cytisine remained in all reactions regardless of the solvent and that a product with R f 0.7 was formed.The reaction in ether produced crystals of 3a, mp 131-132°C; in acetone, 115°C (4), in other solvents, 213-215°C (3). The mass spectrum of the last had peaks for a molecular ion with m/z 392 and for ions with m/z 204, 203, 190, 160, 159, 147, and 146, which confirmed the structure of 3 as bis-cytisinomethane.According to the literature [1], it can be hypothesized that N-methylolcytisine forms in ether, for which mp 110-114°C was reported [1].The IR spectrum of 3a obtained from the reaction in ether contained a broad absorption band for active H with a maximum at 3490 cm -1 . However, the melting point of 3a was higher than that found for 1. The PMR spectrum showed that 3a and 3 had the same spectrum. An x-ray structure analysis proved that 3a was a crystal hydrate of 3 [2].Thus, all attempts to prepare 1 were inconclusive, probably due to the high reactivity of 1, which led to its further reaction with cytisine and formation of the bis-product 3, which was not only the synthetic product but also a natural compound (12,12′-methylenedicytisine) that was isolated from Maackia amurensis [3].