Electrochemical Synthesis of Some 6-Amino-5-hydroquinone-1,3-dimethyluracil Derivatives: A Green, Simple and Efficient Strategy

In order to synthesize some of new 6-amino-5-hydroquinone-1,3-dimethyluracil derivatives, the electrochemical oxidation of hydroquinones (1a-c) was carried out in the presence of 6-amino-1,3-dimethyluracil as a nucleophile in an aqueous phosphate buffer solution. The results show that electrogenerated p-benzoquinone moieties (1a'-c') participate in the reaction with 6-amino-1,3-dimethyluracil via the EC mechanism to form the corresponding uracil derivatives (3a-c). The electrosynthesis of these compounds (3a-c) was performed successfully in an aqueous solution at carbon rod electrodes, without using any toxic reagents, catalyst or solvents and the products were finally produced in high yield and purity. The proposed method has a novel viewpoint in the synthesis of potential anticancer/antiviral uracil-base drugs.