3,4-(methylenodioxy)aniline as precursor to thiazolidinones

The thiazolidinones are five-membered heterocyclic compounds that show a diverse range of biological activities 1 , for example, as antitumor 2 , antidiabetes 3 , antitubercular 4 and anti-hepatitis C virus 5 . The main synthetic routes to thiazolidin-4ones involves a three component reaction (an aldehyde or ketone, a primary amine or hydrazine and the mercaptoacetic acid) either in an oneor two-step process. 6 This work has as objective, report the synthesis of new thiazolidinones 4a-r arising from the reaction of 3,4-(methylenedioxy)aniline 1 with substituted arenealdehydes 2a-r and mercaptoacetic acid 3.