This study reports
two strategies for preparing
O
-alkyl derivatives
of 6-substituted-4-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidin-(1
H
)-ones: a linear protocol of alkylation, using a
CCC
-building block followed by [3 + 3]-type cyclocondensation
with 2-methylisothiourea sulfate and a convergent protocol based on
direct alkylation, using 4-(iodomethyl)-2-(methylthio)-6-(trihalomethyl)pyrimidines.
It was found that the cyclocondensation strategy is not feasible;
thus, the direct chemoselective
O
-alkylation was
performed, and 18 derivatives of the targeted pyrimidines were obtained
in 70–98% yields. The structure of the products was unambiguously
determined via single crystal X-ray analyses and two-dimensional nuclear
magnetic resonance experiments.