Abstract
Diaminomethylene‐ and aminomethylthiomethylenehydrazones [2] of cyclic ketones 1–8 readily reacted with ethoxymethylenemalononitrile to give spiro[cycloalkane‐1,2′‐[1,2′,4′]triazolo[1,5′‐c]pyrimidine‐8′‐carbonitrile] derivatives 12–19 through the electrocyclic reaction of the initially formed condensation products 26 in moderate to high yields. The spiro[cyclopentanetriazolopyrimidine] derivatives underwent ring‐opening at the cycloalkane moiety upon heating in solution to give 2‐alkyl‐5‐substituted‐[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5‐c]pyrimidine‐8′‐carbonitriles 20–23. When an alkyl substituent was introduced into the cyclopentane ring, cleavage of the spiro compounds occurred preferentially at the cyclopentane moiety between the spiro carbon and the more branched one. In contrast, the cyclohexane ring, especially of spiro‐5‐amino‐triazolopyrimidines 17 and 18 strongly resisted to ring‐opening under similar conditions, but those of 5‐methylthiotriazolopyrimidines 14 gave up to 17 percent of cleavage after prolonged heating in hot ethanol. 2‐t‐Butyl‐5‐methylthio‐2,3‐dihydro[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5‐c]pyrimidine‐8‐carbonitrile 25 [R^3^ = C(CH~3~)~3~] was highly susceptible to the cleavage even at room temperature and produced the corresponding 2‐unsubstituted triazolopyrimidine 24 with loss of the t‐butyl group.