The preparation of 2-ethyl-6-(4-nitrophenyl)imidazo [2,1-b] [1,3,4]thiadiazole-5-carbaldehyde (4) is described and its crystal structure is determined and discussed.Keywords: fused imidazoles, fused 1,3,4-thiadiazoles, crystal structure, Vilsmeier-Haack Imidazo [2,1-b] [1,3,4]thiadiazoles are known for their promising biological and pharmacological activities. 1,2 Much interest has also been focused on the chemistry, anticonvulsant, analgesic 3 and antibacterial 4 activities displayed by compounds incorporating this heterocyclic system. In view of the pharmacological significance of the imidazo [2,1-b] [1,3,4]thiadiazole ring system, it was considered worthwhile to synthesise its derivatives with pharmacophoric substituents, which may have equally significant roles to play in biological systems. The title compound is one of the members of this series. Also, 1,3,4-thiadiazole is bioisosteric with thiazole in Tetramizole, 5 which is a novel broad spectrum antihelmintic.The compound was synthesised by Vilsmeier-Haack formylation of an imidazo[2,1-b][1,3,4]thiadiazole containing ethyl and nitrophenyl substituents (Scheme 1). The product was subjected to spectroscopic analysis using IR and 1 H and 13 C NMR techniques to confirm the presence of the ring system, and the site of formylation.A single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis was carried out on compound 4 to investigate its supramolecular structure in terms of C-H … O hydrogen bonding. The analysis revealed certain interesting features such as the planarity of the molecule due to the co-planarity of the carbaldehyde group with the imidazo-thiadiazole ring, the presence of a strong intramolecular hydrogen bond, and the conformational rigidity of the pseudo seven-membered ring which contains it. The stabilisation of the structure due to intramolecular C-H … O and C-H … N interactions was analysed, leading to the conclusion that the supramolecular aggregation in the molecule was chiefly a function of C-H … O tetrameric units and C-H … N interactions.
ExperimentalThe melting points were determined in open capillaries. The IR spectra were recorded as KBr discs using a Nicolet FT-IR 410 spectrophotometre. 1 H NMR spectra were recorded on a Varian RXZ-300 MHz spectrometre using TMS as internal reference compound. C, H and N analyses were measured on a Heraus CHN rapid analyser at Karnatak University, Dharwad, India.2- imidazo [2,1-b][1,3,4]thiadiazole-5-carbaldehyde (4): The title compound was prepared in two stages as shown in Scheme 1. 2-Ethyl-6-(4-nitrophenyl)imidazo[2,1-b][1,3,4] thiadiazole (3) was prepared by refluxing a mixture of p-nitrophenacyl bromide (2) 6 (2.44 g, 0.01 mol) and 2-amino-5-ethyl-1,3,4-thiadiazole (1) 7 (1.29 g, 0.01 mol) in absolute ethanol for 8 h. Solvent was distilled off and the solid hydrobromide that separated was collected by filtration, suspended in water and neutralised with aqueous sodium carbonate to get the free base. This was filtered off, washed with water, dried, and recrystallised from ethanol, providing compound 3 as a pale y...