Experimental and Theoretical Studies on the Tautomerism in 2-Aminopyridines and 2(1H)-Pyridinones: Synthesis of 2-Amino-4-aryl-3-cyano-6-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)pyridines and 4-Aryl-3-cyano-6-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2(1H)-pyridinones

Under solvent-free conditions and in one-pot, a series of 2-amino-4-aryl-3-cyano-6-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-pyridines and 4-aryl-3-cyano-6-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2(1H)-pyridinones were prepared using 3,4-dimethoxyacetophenone, an aldehyde, malononitrile (or ethyl cyanoacetate), and ammonium acetate in the presence of 3-methyl-1-(4-sulfonylbutyl)imidazolium hydrogen sulfate [HO₃S(CH₂)₄MIM][HSO₄] (a Br nsted acidic ionic liquid) as the catalyst in very short reaction time. The preference for the formation of more stable tautomers was consistence with the theoretical calculation using the Gaussian 03 program at the B3LYP hybrid density functional level.