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Synlett 2011(17): 2595-2596  
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1289512
SPOTLIGHT
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart ˙ New York

N-Methylimidazole: Attractive and Valuable Chameleonic Species

Graziella Greco*
Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di ­Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
e-Mail: origreco@hotmail.it;
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Publication History

Publication Date:
06 October 2011 (online)

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Introduction

In the last decades N-methylimidazole (N-Mim) has attracted the attention of a great number of research groups due to its broad chameleonic behavior, being widely used in organic chemistry as a solvent, as co-catalyst, ligand in metal complexes, Brønsted or Lewis base catalyst. N-Mim participates in the active center of several enzymes, as an ionic liquid precursor, as electron acceptor or as key intermediate in synthesis. [¹-7] On the other hand, the chemistry of imidazole compounds in general has been also a center of interest due to the presence of its essential functional unit in a large variety of biological important molecules, being the N-methylimidazole used to mimic aspects of several of these biomolecules. [8] These derivatives can be helpful in studies to elucidate biological mechanisms, and its importance has led to several international patents. The different roles played by N-methylimidazole have been extensively applied for the synthesis of important targets. [8]

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