A series of (E)-5-(arylideneamino)-1-tert-butyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitriles and their reduction products to secondary amines: syntheses and X-ray structural studies.

An efficent access to a series of N-(pyrrol-2-yl)amines, namely (E)-1-tert-butyl-5-[(4-chlorobenzylidene)amino]-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile, CHClN, (7a), (E)-1-tert-butyl-5-[(2,4-dichlorobenzylidene)amino]-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile, CHClN, (7b), (E)-1-tert-butyl-5-[(pyridin-4-ylmethylene)amino]-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile, CHN, (7c), 1-tert-butyl-5-[(4-chlorobenzyl)amino]-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile, CHClN, (8a), and 1-tert-butyl-5-[(2,4-dichlorobenzyl)amino]-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile, CHClN, (8b), by a two-step synthesis sequence (solvent-free condensation and reduction) starting from 5-amino-1-tert-butyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile is described. The syntheses proceed via isolated N-(pyrrol-2-yl)imines, which are also key synthetic intermediates of other valuable compounds. The crystal structures of the reduced compounds showed a reduction in the symmetry compared with the corresponding precursors, viz. Pbcm to P-1 from compound (7a) to (8a) and P2/c to P-1 from compound (7b) to (8b), probably due to a severe change in the molecular conformations, resulting in the loss of planarity observed in the nonreduced compounds. In all of the crystals, the supramolecular assembly is controlled mainly by strong (N,C)-H...N hydrogen bonds. However, in the case of (7a)-(7c), C-H...Cl interactions are strong enough to help in the three-dimensional architecture, as observed in Hirshfeld surface maps.