Process for the preparation of 4-methyl thiazole

#Many processes have been disclosed for the preparation of thiazoles owing to the importance of such compounds as chemical intermediates. One such process disclosed by Colebourne (Journal of the Chemical Society 685 (1967) involves an imine in the presence of sulfur to prepare 4-methylthiazole. The process has the distinct disadvantage of having hydrogen sulfide, an environmental pollutant, as a by product.

#The instant invention prepares thiazole compounds from an imine and sulfur dioxide, avoiding the production of the hazardous by-product, hydrogen sulfide. Thus, it is an object of this invention to describe the preparation of 4-methyl thiazole from an imine and sulfur dioxide. Another object of this invention is to describe the catalyst which may be used in such process. Still another object of this invention is to describe the reaction conditions which allow the process to be carried out in a continuous fashion. Further objects will become apparent upon reading the following description.

#The process of the instant invention is best described in the following reaction scheme: ##STR1##

#The following examples are provided in order that the invention might be more fully understood. They are not meant to be limitative of the invention.

#A metal oxide catalyst mixture is prepared by dissolving the following salts in about 0.5 liter of water:

#7.5 g (0.02 moles) of Al(NO.sub.3).sub.3.9H.sub.2 O