Convenient Preparation of Halo-1,3-thiazoles: Important Building Blocks for Materials and Pharmaceutical Synthesis

Convenient, scalable and high-yielding approaches to 2,5- and 2,4-dibromo-1,3-thiazole are reported that offer significant improvements over previously reported approaches. 2,5-Dibromo-1,3-thiazole was generated in two steps from commercially inexpensive 2-amino-1,3-thiazole, whereas 2,4-dibromo-1,3-thiazole was generated in a single step from commercially inexpensive 1,3-thiazolidine-2,4-dione. As part of this study, convenient approaches to 2-bromo- and 2-iodo-1,3-thiazole were also developed.