Alkylation of thymine with 1,2-dibromoethane

Alkylation of thymine with 1,2-dibromoethane depends strongly on the reacti on conditions. Various alkyl derivatives may be produced, including N-1- or N-5-monosubstituted alkylthymines and products of their cyclisation, as we ll higher molecular weight products resulting from intermolecular substitut ion of N-1- and N-3-mono- and N-1,N-3-dialkylthymines. We have identified t wo cyclic products 5 and 6 and the dialkylated derivative 7, for which deta iled structural analyses have been performed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.