Cover Feature: Diastereoselective Synthesis of Meso-1,2-Diarylethane-1,2-Diamines Via Sodium Reduction of Imidazolines (Asian J. Org. Chem. 11/2024)

The cover design illustrates a novel stereoselective approach to the synthesis of 1,2-diarylethane-1,2-diamines. The method proposed in this article utilizes widely available aromatic aldehydes and ammonia as starting substances. The stereoselectivity of the formation of cis-2,4,5-triarylimidazoline is due to Woodward–Hoffmann rules in the electrocyclic reactions. In article number e202400305 by Daniil R. Bazanov and Natalia A. Lozinskaya, the possibility of reduction of the amidine fragment of imidazoline with metallic sodium in tert-butyl alcohol was shown. This method allows to obtain alkyl- and alkoxyphenyl derivatives of meso-1,2-diarylethane-1,2-diamines in high yields. The ability to scale up the method to muttigram quantities is shown. A possible side reaction of the reduction to dibenzylamine derivatives is also shown on the cover design.