Synthesis, reactions, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of 4-methyl-6H-pyrazolo(3,4-b)azepin-7-ones

Reactions of various 5-aminopyrazoles with ethyl levulinate in acetic acid have been shown to furnish moderate to good yields of the correspondingly substituted 4-methyl-6H-pyrazolo-(3,4-b)azepin-7-ones, accompanied by the acetamidopyrazoles. The courses of methylation and of bromination reactions of some of the pyrazoloazepinones have been explored and defined, and conversion of one pyrazoloazepinone into 7-chloropyrazoloazepine and thence by nucleophilic displacements into 7-(substituted amino)pyrazoloazepines has been effected. Structural assignments, tautomeric preferences, and through-space interactions between substituents were established through nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H and 13C). Some members of the pyrazoloazepinone series exhibit significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects in mice.