One-Pot Synthesis of Functionalized Spirobenzofuranones via MCR involving 3-Cyanochromones

Practice of green chemistry strategies in synthetic organic chemistry: a glimpse of our sincere efforts in green chemistry research

This feature article summarises our recent contributions (2019-2023) in designing and developing a handful of promising organic transformations for accessing several diversely functionalised biologically relevant organic scaffolds, following the green chemistry principles, particularly focusing on the application of low-energy visible light, electrochemistry, ball-milling, ultrasound, and catalyst- and additive-free synthetic strategies.

Isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions for the synthesis of benzopyran derivatives with biological scaffolds

Benzopyrans (BZPs) are among the most privileged and influential small O-heterocycles that form the core of many natural compounds, commercial drugs, biological compositions, agrochemicals, and functional materials. BZPs are divided into six general categories including coumarins, chromans, 2H-chromenes, 4H-chromenes, chromones, and 4-chromanones, each of which is abundant in many plants and foods. These oxygenated heterocyclic compounds are fascinating motifs and have extensive applications in biology and materials science. Hence, numerous efforts have been made to develop innovative approaches for their extraction and synthesis. However, most of them are step-by-step or multi-step strategies that suffer from waste material generation and a tedious extraction process. Isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions (I-MCRs) offer a highly efficient method for overcoming these problems. The I-MCR is a simple and environmentally friendly one-pot domino procedure that does not require intermediate isolation or workup and is generally more efficient in material usage. This review covers all research articles related to I-MCRs for synthesizing BZP derivatives from the beginning to the middle of the year 2023. This strategy will be useful for organic and pharmaceutical chemists to design new drugs and optimize the synthesis steps of biological compounds and commercial drugs with benzopyran cores.

Synthesis of novel pyrano[2,3-f]chromene-dione derivatives using phosphoric acid-functionalized silica-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles as a new reusable solid acid nanocatalyst

In this research, the synthesis of novel indeno[1,2-b]pyrano[2,3-f]chromene-2,12(13H)-dione derivatives in the presence of a newly introduced magnetically recoverable nanosolid acid catalyst is reported. At the first, phosphoric acid-functionalized silica-coated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-(CH₂)₃OPO₃H₂) were prepared and well characterized using infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. Then, the catalytic activity of the prepared Fe₃O₄@ SiO₂-(CH₂)₃OPO₃H₂ nanocatalyst was investigated for the synthesis of novel indeno[1,2-b]pyrano[2,3-f]chromene-2,12(13H)-dione derivatives via a one-pot and three-component condensation between 5,7-dihydroxy-4-methylcoumarin, indane-1, 3-dione, and various aromatic aldehydes under solvent-free condition. All the products are unknown, and their characterization was performed with the spectral data information obtained from their FT-IR, ¹H and ¹³CNMR, elemental analysis, and their melting points. The reusability study of the introduced nanosolid acid catalyst showed that the catalytic stability is almost completely remained up to five consecutive runs.

Piperidine-Mediated [3 + 3] Cyclization of 2-Amino-4H-chromen-4-ones and 2-Benzylidenemalononitriles: To Access 2-Aminochromeno[2,3-b]pyridine Derivatives

Piperidine-mediated [3 + 3] cyclization of 2-amino-4H-chromen-4-ones and substituted 2-benzylidenemalononitriles was developed for the synthesis of 2-amino-4-aryl-5H-chromeno[2,3-b]pyridin-5-one derivatives. This novel transformation provides a highly efficient and facile route to functionalized 5H-chromeno[2,3-b]pyridines from readily available substrates under mild reaction conditions.

An easy and practical approach to access multifunctional cylcopentadiene- and cyclopentene-spirooxindoles via [3 + 2] annulation

A highly regioselective [3 + 2] annulation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) carbonates of isatin with aurone/thioaurone is developed. Spiroheterocycles such as spirooxindole cyclopentadiene and spirooxindole fused hydroxy cyclopentene derivatives are constructed in one pot by exploring the reactivity of Lewis bases. Combined experimental and density functional theory (DFT) calculations offered an insight into the reaction mechanism.

Zn(OTf)2-Catalyzed Formal [3 + 3] Cascade Annulation of Propargylic Alcohols with 2-Aminochromones: Accessing the Chromeno[2,3-b]pyridines

A Zn(OTf)₂-catalyzed formal [3 + 3] cascade annulation strategy for the synthesis of functionalized chromeno[2,3-b]pyridines has been developed using propargylic alcohols and 2-aminochromones as the substrates. The protocol provides a convenient and atom-economical method of accessing a broad range of chromeno[2,3-b]pyridine derivatives in excellent yields with good functional-group tolerance. The method is also effective on the gram scale, which highlights the inherent practicality of this synthetic transformation.

Diversity-Oriented Synthesis of Spiroannulated Benzofuran-3-one Scaffold of Leptosphaerin C and Congeners via Aryne Insertion

A concise synthesis of functionalized cyclohexenone-fused spirobenzofuran-3-ones under mild reaction conditions was developed. The reaction proceeds via insertion of aryne into the C-O bond followed by a regioselective intramolecular conjugate addition. The use of silyl-protected acid was crucial for the transformation. This protocol was successfully applied for the synthesis of leptosphaerin C core and its novel analogues.

Base-mediated isocyanide-based three-component reactions: divergent synthesis of spiro-substituted furans and pyrroles

A facile base-mediated isocyanide-based three-component cycloaddition protocol for the chemoselective preparation of functionalized spiro-substituted furans and pyrroles derivatives has been designed.

Diversity oriented synthesis of β-carbolinone and indolo-pyrazinone analogues based on an Ugi four component reaction and subsequent cyclisation of the resulting indole intermediate

One pot two step synthesis of β-carbolinone and indolo-pyrazinone analogues via acid mediated cyclisation of Ugi intermediate has been developed with a wide substrate scope.

Synthesis of cyclopentadiene-fused chromanones via one-pot multicomponent reactions

We have developed one-pot method for the synthesis of functionalized novel cyclopentadiene-fused chromanone scaffolds. A variety of 4-oxo-2,4-dihydrocyclopenta[c]chromene-1,2-dicarboxylates were obtained in moderate to good yields via condensation of 2-hydroxybenzaldehydes and ethyl acetoacetate with 1:1 acetylenecarboxylate-isocyanides in toluene. These reactions presumably proceed via reaction of the in situ generated 3-acetyl-2H-chromen-2-ones with acetylenecarboxylate-isocyanide zwitterionic intermediates through Michael addition/intramolecular cyclization and double [1,5] acyl shift rearrangement cascade.

One-pot five-component synthesis of spirocyclopenta[b]chromene derivatives and their acid-catalyzed rearrangement

The reaction of the zwitterionic intermediate, generated in situ from either tert-butylisocyanide or cyclohexylisocyanide and acetylenedicarboxylates, with 3-cyanochromones is described, whereupon spirochromenofuran derivatives 5 or 6 were obtained in good yields. The subsequent acid-catalyzed rearrangement of the isolated 2-imino-spirochromenofurans 5 to 2-amino-spirochromenofurans 7 has also been studied. Rational mechanistic schemes for the formation of compounds 5, 6, and 7 are proposed. The structure elucidation of the products was accomplished by 1D and 2D NMR experiments and confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Full assignment of all (1)H and (13)C NMR chemical shifts has been unambiguously achieved with the aid of DFT/GIAO calculations.