Stable hemiaminals can be obtained in the one-pot reaction between 2-aminopyrimidine and nitrobenzaldehyde derivatives. Ten new hemiaminals have been obtained, six of them in crystal state. The molecular stability of these intermediates results from the presence of both electron-withdrawing nitro groups as substituents on the phenyl ring and pyrimidine ring, so no further stabilisation by intramolecular interaction is required. Hemiaminal molecules possess a tetrahedral carbon atom constituting a stereogenic centre. As the result of crystallisation in centrosymmetric space groups both enantiomers are present in the crystal structure.
Keywords: 2-aminopyrimidine; crystal structure; nitrobenzaldehyde; stable hemiaminal; stable intermediate.