The reaction of methyl esters q ['2-subslituted 5-pyrimidinecarbo.~. lic acids with hydrazine hydrate at 0-5't2 results in the nucleophilic substitution oJ'readiO~ elhninating groups (CI, CHjS) Hydrazides of pyrimidinecarboxylic acids and their derivatives, possessing interesting biological properties [1][2][3][4][5][6], are utilized in organic synthesis [7][8][9][10][11]. The most common method for the synthesis of hydrazides is the acylation of hydrazine by esters [12]. The majority of known hydrazides of 5-pyrimidinecarboxylic acids were synthesized by this method [1, 8,[13][14][15][16]. According to the data of the works [8, 17, 18], readily removable groups at the electrophilic carbon atom at the position 2 of the pyrimidine ring can cause competitive nucleophilic attack by hydrazine molecule and the very formation of hydrazinopyrimidines or the mixture of hydrazinopyrimidines and the corresponding 5-pyrimidinecarboxylic acid hydrazides. No more detailed investigations in this regard were found in the literature.With the object of a qualitative evaluation of the relative reactivity of the ester group and groups situated at the position 2 of the pyrimidine ring, we studied the reaction of the methyl esters of 2-substituted N~,,%,/CONHNI I_, ~ /COOMe
I I,NI-IN/]~N ~ VIIUnder mild conditions (0-5~ the esters I-llI only undergo nucleophilic attack by hydrazine molecule at the position 2 of the pyrimidine ring, whereby the eliminating groups are ranged in the following order according to mobility: CI > CH3S > CH30. The ester group does not react with hydrazine hydrate under these conditions. Methyl 2-hydrazino-5-pyrimidinecarboxylate (V) is formed as a result of the reactions. The compound IV is unchanged under these conditions. The ester groups of the compounds IV and V enter into the reaction with hydrazine hydrate with difficulty. The formation of hydrazides was not even noted during the prolonged boiling of the reaction mixture in solutions of methanol or ethanol. The corresponding hydrazides VI and VII were only