One-pot synthesis of 2-hydroxymethyl-5-methylpyrazine from renewable 1,3-dihydroxyacetone

Abstract

An efficient and green method for the synthesis of 2-hydroxymethyl-5-methylpyrazine was achieved from biomass derived 1,3-dihydroxyacetone and diammonium phosphate via a one-pot reaction. The product yield was as high as 72% under optimized conditions of pH = 8.0–9.1 at 90 °C for 1 hour in a dioxane and water mixture as a solvent. A possible reaction mechanism was proposed according to the reaction kinetics, NMR and in situ ATR-IR characterization studies.