Synthesis of trifold-labeled versatile reagent [3,5-¹³ C₂ ,4-¹⁵  N]4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione

Triazolinediones are an important class of derivatization agents that have found application in various research disciplines. Their unique reactivity often allows precise and selective tagging of relevant molecular scaffolds to facilitate structural elucidation, tracking in biological systems, and stabilization of labile compounds. Recent research efforts mainly focused on the development of novel fluorescent and ionizable or isotopically labeled tags improving the quantification and identification of the parent molecule by suitable analytical methods. However, these concepts often lack the ability to improve properties facilitating the analysis by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. We herein describe the first synthesis of ¹³ C and ¹⁵ N labeled [3,5-¹³ C₂ ,4-¹⁵  N]4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione utilizing the Cookson/Zinner-Deucker synthesis of urazoles. The introduced isotopic labels are ideally suited to support the structural elucidation of unknown and complex derivatization mixtures by NMR, thereby exploiting the increased sensitivity of detecting long-range J_HC and additional J_CC and J_CN couplings within the derivatized compounds of interest.