Full paper / Me ´moire Synthesis and structure of the unsymmetrical b-diimine precursor: The b-iminoamine Kamel Landolsi a , Najoua Belhadj Mbarek Elmkacher a , Taha Guerfel b , Faouzi Bouachir a, * a Laboratoire de chimie de coordination, faculte ´ des sciences de Monastir, avenue de l’Environnement, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia b Laboratoire de chimie du solide, faculte ´ des sciences de Monastir, avenue de l’Environnement, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia Received 27 July 2007; accepted after revision 9 November 2007 Available online 9 January 2008 Abstract The reaction of benzoylacetone with ortho-substituted aniline derivatives gives the unsymmetrical b-iminoamine ligands (5e8) with high yields. A convenient synthesis is described. These compounds have been characterized by NMR and IR spectroscopies. The structure of the b-iminoamine 5, 3-N-(2,6-diisopropylphenylamino)-1-phenyl-1N-(2,6-diisopropylphenylimino)but-2-ene, was solved by X-ray diffraction methods. To cite this article: K. Landolsi et al., C. R. Chimie 11 (2008). Ó 2007 Acade ´mie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Re ´sume ´ La re ´action de la benzoylacetone avec des amines aromatiques substitue ´es en position ortho donne avec de bons rendements les b-iminoamines (5e8) non syme ´triques. Une voie de synthe `se approprie ´e est de ´crite. Tous les produits ont e ´te ´ caracte ´rise ´s par spec- troscopies RMN et IR. La structure cristalline de la b-iminoamine 5, 3-N-(2,6-diisopropylphenylamino)-1-phenyl-1N-(2,6-diiso- propylphenylimino)but-2-ene, a e ´te ´ re ´solue par diffraction des rayons X. Pour citer cet article : K. Landolsi et al., C. R. Chimie 11 (2008). Ó 2007 Acade ´mie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Keywords: 1,3-Diketones; b-Ketoamine; Unsymmetrical b-iminoamine Mots-cle ´s : 1,3-Dice ´tones ; b-Ce ´toamines ; b-Iminoamine non symme ´trique 1. Introduction Enaminoketones (or b-ketoamines) and related com- pounds possessing the structural unit NeC]CeZ (Z ¼ COR, CO 2 R, CN, etc.) are versatile synthetic intermediates that combine the ambident nucleophilic- ity of enamines with the ambident electrophilicity of enones [1]. Some specific procedures reported for the synthesis of b-enaminocarbonyl derivatives include the reaction of amines and 1,3-diketones over clay K 10 or silica under microwave irradiation [2], reaction of b-amino- ketones in the presence of triethylamine prompted by * Corresponding author. E-mail address: bouachirf@yahoo.de (F. Bouachir). 1631-0748/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Acade ´mie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.crci.2007.11.005 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com C. R. Chimie 11 (2008) 752e758 http://france.elsevier.com/direct/CRAS2C/