Rolf H. Prager, Jason A. Smith, Ben Weber and Craig M. Williams
2-Unsubstituted isoxazol-5(4H)-ones and
-5(2H
)-ones may be acylated by acid chlorides,
anhydrides or carboxylic acids in the presence of carbodiimides, to give
O- and N-acylated products. The solvent, the presence
of base and the temperature are found to alter the product ratios
dramatically, but the substituents present at C-3 have the greatest
effect. Aliphatic acid anhydrides and chlorides generally react at
nitrogen, but aroyl halides give significant proportions of
O-acylated products. Limited success in converting
O-aroyl to N-aroyl isoxazolones is reported.