Synthetic Methodologies of Imidazo[1,2-a]Pyrimidine: A Review

Imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine, an emerging pharmacophore in medicinal chemistry is a fused heterocycle containing the biologically potent imidazole and pyrimidine framework with notable anticancer and antimicrobial applications. The imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine moiety is mainly synthesized by 2-aminopyrimidine via multicomponent synthesis, oxidative cyclization, intramolecular cyclization, intermolecular condensation, and coupling reactions that introduce functionalization on imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine preferably at the C3 position, whereas the neighboring C2 position receives alkyl or aryl substitution. Also, the functionalization of imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine at the C2 position is very challenging due to the preference of the electrophilic attack at the C3 position. This review presents the recent trends in the synthesis of functionalized imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines.