The reaction of phenylglyoxal hydrate with N,N-dimethylhydrazones of furfural and 1-methylpyrrole-2-carbaldehyde proceeds regioselectively at position 5 of the heterocycle. The hetaryl analogs of α-benzoins obtained are quantitatively isomerized into the isomeric β-benzoins. The N,N-dimethylhydrazonomethyl group, while activating the hetaryl residue, reduces the time for isomerization compared with unfunctionalized benzoins. The N,N-dimethylhydrazonomethyl group is readily transformed into an aldehyde or nitrile group and enters into a trans-hydrazonation reaction.The chemical properties of benzoins studied up to the present time are overwhelmingly linked in the majority of cases with the transformation of the α-hydroxyketone group and with the effect of (het)aryl residues on its reactivity. Consequently the desired substituents required in the (het)aryl residues are usually introduced at the stage of obtaining the benzoin, for example, in various modifications of the benzoin condensations [1-7], hydroxyalkylation of arylglyoxals of electron-rich benzenes and π-excess heterocycles [8-10]. Among the chemical properties affecting (het)aryl residues two types are known: the formation of benzofurans on photolysis of desyl esters of carboxylic, carbamic, and phosphoric acids, which occurs through intramolecular [2+2] cycloaddition of the carbonyl group to the double bond of the electron-rich aryl residue [11][12][13][14], and electrophilic substitution directly into the (het)aryl residue: formylation of furoin [15], and excessive hydroxymethylation of a pyrrole ring with phenylglyoxal [10]. The effect of an α-hydroxyketone group on the reactivity of substituents in the (het)aryl residue of isomeric benzoins remains unstudied.It is interesting to study benzoins containing functional groups in the (het)aryl residues capable of further transformation within wide limits. One of the most promising groups, in our opinion, is the N,N-dimethylhydrazonomethyl group, which may readily be transformed into an aldehyde group [16], one of the most frequently used functional groups in organic synthesis [17]. At the same time the actual N,N-disubstituted hydrazonomethyl group is widely used in asymmetric synthesis [18,19] and is a reactive nucleophilic substrate, similar to enamines according to the azaenamine concept [18].However, in the case of hydrazones of aldehydes of π-excess five-membered heterocycles the trifluoroacetylation [20], and aminomethylation [21] reactions, and the interaction with electron-deficient unsaturated compounds [22][23][24], proceed regioselectively at position 5 of the ring, which is explained by __________________________________________________________________________________________