An efficient procedure to obtain the new compound 1a from ethyl acetoacetate (2a), NBS and N,N′-diethylthiourea (4a) was reported. In comparison with the traditional method to synthesize its analogues, this efficient, catalyst-free, and one-pot synthetic method is facile. The work-up procedure is easy and gives the pure target compound under milder reaction conditions in a relatively high yield of 75%.
