Novel hydrolytic cleavage of 4-(pyrrol-2-yl)azetidin-2-ones
Abstract
Alkaline hydrolysis of 1-aryl-3,3-diphenyl-4-(pyrrol-2-yl)azetidin-2-ones results in an unusual dualpath fragmentation of the β-lactam ring to give diphenylacetic acid, 2-iminomethylpyrroles, arylamines, and 1,1-diphenyl-2-(pyrrol-2-yl)ethylene. The product distribution is shown to be dependent on temperature.