trans-2-Amino-4-aryl-5-benzoyl-4,5-dihydrothiophene-3-carbonitriles
were prepared either by the reaction of 3-aryl-2-cyanothioacrylamides
with α-thiocyanatoacetophenone or by the Michael-type addition
of cyanothioacetamide to α-bromochalcones followed by intramolecular
cyclization. The mechanism of the first reaction was studied using
high-level quantum chemical calculations. Density functional theory
(DFT) studies were carried out to determine the mechanism of the first
reaction. A new approach toward the construction of the thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine
core system was demonstrated by the reaction of the prepared dihydrothiophenes
with HCHO and RNH2 under noncatalyzed Mannich conditions.