It has been shown that the cyanoethylation of 4,5-dialkylthiazole-2-thiols (I, Fig. 1) occurs on the ring nitrogen rather than on the thiol sulfur at ~ m . ~ , ~ s SR RA ( ~ > s H -+ ... VI VI I VI11 t CII,=zCHCN Figure 1 This is somewhat surprising inasmuch as the for- mation of a Pthiazoline-3-propionitrile (11) de- stroys the aromaticity of the thiazole ring. Efros4& also reports, with reservation, that the cyanoethyla- tion of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole (IV) ...
