1-Imidoyl-1,2,3-benzotriazoles—Novel Reagents for the Synthesis of 1-Aryl-5-trifluoromethylimidazoles

1-Imidoylbenzotriazoles [N-aryl-1-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)-2,2,2-trifluoroethan-1-imines] reacted with tosylmethyl isocyanide according to van Leusen’s procedure to give difficultly accessible 1-aryl-4-(4-methylbenzenesulfonyl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-imidazoles in good yields (81–94%). The initial imidoylbenzotriazoles were conveniently synthesized by reaction of sodium benzotriazolide with the corresponding imidoyl chlorides in THF. The reactions were carried out with a wide series of imidoylbenzotriazoles containing various electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents in the N-aryl fragment.