Pyrazines have shown excellent biological activities, they have been extensively used in the food and perfume industries, due to their taste and aromas, and pyrazine heterocycles have also been finding applications in materials science. The growing demand for substituted pyrazine derivatives has led to the development of various synthetic protocols.

Hosahudya N. Gopi, Indian Institute of Science, Pune, India, and colleagues have synthesized highly symmetrical tetrasubstituted pyrazines from β-keto γ-amino esters through a simple aerial oxidation at mild conditions.
The mild and efficient transformation may serve as an attractive strategy for self-dimerization of peptides.

• Synthesis of Tetrasubstituted Symmetrical Pyrazines from β-Keto γ-Amino Esters: A Mild Strategy for Self-Dimerization of Peptides,
  Mothukuri Ganesh Kumar, Varsha J. Thombare, Rupal D. Bhaisare, Anindita Adak, Hosahudya N. Gopi,
  Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2015.
  DOI: 10.1002/ejoc.201403237