Iodine-Promoted Metal-Free Cyclization and O/S Exchange of Acrylamides with Thiuram: One-Step Synthesis of Quinolino-2-thiones

From Conventional to Sustainable Catalytic Approaches for Heterocycles Synthesis

Synthesis of heterocyclic compounds is fundamental for all the research area in chemistry, from drug synthesis to material science. In this framework, catalysed synthetic methods are of great interest to effective reach such important building blocks. In this review, we will report on some selected examples from the last five years, of the major improvement in the field, focusing on the most important conventional catalytic systems, such as transition metals, organocatalysts, to more sustainable ones such as photocatalysts, iodine-catalysed reaction, electrochemical reactions and green innovative methods.

Access to 2-thio/selenoquinolines via domino reaction of isocyanides with sulfur and selenium in water

A domino reaction of o-alkenylaryl isocyanides with elemental sulfur and selenium in pure water was developed for the efficient and green synthesis of quinoline-2-thione and diquinolyl diselenide derivatives. Mechanistical investigation reveals that intramolecular nucleophilic addition of an alkenyl group to the in situ generated isothio/isoselenocyanate accounts for the formation of a quinoline-ring. Moreover, this transformation is also amendable for the convenient preparation of 2-fluoromethylthio-/seleno-quinolines by a one-pot three-component reaction.

Facile access to 3-sulfonylquinolines via Knoevenagel condensation/aza-Wittig reaction cascade involving ortho-azidobenzaldehydes and β-ketosulfonamides and sulfones

Quinoline-based sulfonyl derivatives, and especially sulfonamides, are relevant and promising structures for drug design. We have developed a new convenient protocol for the synthesis of 3-sulfonyl-substituted quinolines (sulfonamides and sulfones). The approach is based on a Knoevenagel condensation/aza-Wittig reaction cascade involving o-azidobenzaldehydes and ketosulfonamides or ketosulfones as key building blocks. The protocol is appropriate for both ketosulfonyl reagents and α-sulfonyl-substituted alkyl acetates providing the target quinoline derivatives in good to excellent yields.

Synthesis of Quinoline-2-thiones by Selective Deoxygenative C-H/C-S Functionalization of Quinoline N-Oxides with Thiourea

Quinoline-2-thiones valuable for synthetic and medicinal chemistry applications were obtained with excellent regioselectivity employing a deoxygenative C-H functionalization of readily available quinoline-N-oxides with thiourea upon activation with triflic anhydride. Unlike the current methods, this approach provides general access to diverse quinoline-2-thiones functionalized with groups of different electronic natures. Experimental simplicity and good to high yields are advantages of this protocol. Given the high reactivity of quinoline-2-thiones, this method provides an entry point for the synthesis of diverse organosulfur quinoline scaffolds.

Nucleophilic Addition/Electrocyclization Strategy toward Polyheterocyclic-Fused Quinoline-2-thiones in Green Solvent

A metal-free and base-free cyclization reaction of ortho-heteroaryl anilines with isothiocyanatobenzene for the synthesis of diverse polyheterocyclic-fused quinoline-2-thiones was developed in PEG-200. This protocol features green solvent, lack of requirement for a metal and base, short reaction time consumption, and facile isolation via simple filtration. Furthermore, this protocol is easy to scale up which demonstrates outstanding synthetic scalability.