The alkyl N-(diphenylmethylene)-alpha,beta-dehydroamino acids 1 have been submitted to 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with nitrile oxides. The reactivity of these compounds depends on the type and on the stereochemistry of the beta-substituents. With the unsubstituted terms 1a,b the reaction occurs on the C,C double bond, providing a good method for the synthesis of the 4,5-dihydroisoxazole derivatives 3a,b,c and for the gem-functionalized 4,5-dihydroisoxazoles amino carboxylic ester 5. The beta-substituted compounds 1c,d,e, inert to 1,1-dimethylethylnitrile oxide, undergo the reaction to the N,C double bond, thus giving with 2a,b the 4,5-dihydro-1,2,4-oxadiazole derivatives 4. All the reactions occur with high site- and regioselectivity.

The metabolism of the anti-hypertensive drug, mopidralazine, N-(2',5'-dimethyl-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)-6-(4"-morpholinyl)-3-pyridazinamine, was reinvestigated in rats using the [2'(5')-13CH3]-labelled drug to determine the significance of the pharmacologically active intermediate 3-hydrazino-6-(4-morpholinyl)pyridazine. The previously proposed mesonic structure of the major metabolite I, i.e., 5'-hydroxy-3',6'-dimethyl-1'-[6-(4"-morpholinyl)-3-pyridazinyl]pyrida zinium hydroxide inner salt, was confirmed by chemical synthesis, X-ray diffraction analysis and 1H n.m.r. of the [3',6'-13CH3]-labelled metabolite I. Metabolite II, 3-methyl-6-(4-morpholinyl)-triazolo [4,3-6 b]pyridazine and metabolite VII, 3-methyl-7-(4-morpholinyl)-3H-pyridazino[1,6-c]pyridazine, were shown to retain the 13CH3 labelling of mopidralazine, whereas metabolite X, 3-acetyl-hydrazino-6-(4-morpholinyl)-pyridazine, loses the labelling, indicating that their formation involves two different pathways. It is hypothesized that the oxidation of the pyrrole leads to ring opening followed by a chemical rearrangement giving rise directly to metabolites II and VII or, with the intermediacy of the pharmacologically active 3-hydrazino-6-(4-morpholinyl) derivative and an enzymic acetylation or conjugation with pyruvic acid, to metabolites X, II and VII.