Ni-Unsymmetrical Salen Complex-Catalyzed One-Pot Multicomponent Reactions for Efficient Synthesis of Biologically Active 2-Amino-3-cyano-4H-pyrans

In this report, four new Ni(II)-unsymmetrical salen complexes, [NiL1-4], were prepared by refluxing Ni(Ac)2·4H2O with unsymmetrical salen ligands, H2L1-4. All of the synthesized ligands and complexes were characterized by various physicochemical methods. Also, the solid-state structures of [NiL1], [NiL2], and [NiL4] were defined through single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The catalytic potential of [NiL1-4] was investigated by economic and environmentally friendly one-pot-three-component reactions (using reagent: 1,3-dicarbonyls, malononitrile, benzaldehyde, or its derivatives) for the synthesis of biologically active 2-amino-3-cyano-4H-pyran derivatives (total 16 derivatives). After optimization of the reaction conditions, this new synthetic protocol by taking Ni(II)-unsymmetrical salen complexes as catalysts shows excellent conversion with a maximum yield of up to 98% of the effective catalytic products within 1 h of reaction time. In addition, it was observed that the aromatic aldehyde containing an electron-withdrawing group as a ring substituent shows better conversion (up to 98%), and the electron-donating group substituent shows similar or less conversion compared to benzaldehyde under the optimized reaction conditions. From the comparison of results between all these Ni complexes, it was found that the efficiency of the catalytic performance follows the order [NiL1] > [NiL3] > [NiL2] > [NiL4]. A possible reaction pathway was predicted and established through UV-vis spectroscopy. Intermediate II proposed in the reaction pathway was also trapped and characterized through 1H and 13C NMR.

Expeditious Synthesis of 2-Amino-4H-chromenes and 2-Amino-4H-pyran-3- carboxylates Promoted by Sodium Malonate

BACKGROUND

Chromenes and pyran annulated heterocycles are the most common frameworks existing in various biologically active molecules. Due to their beneficial and biological properties, they are eyecatching synthetic targets in the arsenal of organic chemistry. Thus, finding green and efficient methods, as well as searching for a new catalyst for the synthesis of these heterocycles is of interest to organic chemistry researchers.

OBJECTIVE

Sodium malonate as a readily available catalyst was employed aimed at the multicomponent synthesis of numerous 2-amino-4H-chromenes and 2-amino-4H-pyrans in water as a green medium reaction.

METHODS

The reaction was performed via treatment of aldehydes (1 mmol) with malononitrile/ethyl cyanoacetate (1 mmol) and β-dicarbonyl compounds (1 mmol)/or resorcinol (1 mmol) in water (4 mL) in the presence of sodium malonate (10 mol %) at 70°C. On completion of the reaction (monitored by TLC analysis), the reaction mixture was gradually cooled at room temperature, and the resulting precipitates were collected by filtration, washed with cold ethanol and air-dried to give the corresponding pure products. The solvent was evaporated from the filtrate to recover the catalyst, and the catalyst was reused for subsequent reactions.

RESULTS

In the initial stages, we explored the best reaction conditions using three-component reaction of benzaldehyde, malononitrile, and dimedone as the model reaction. The effects of catalyst loading, temperature, and solvents were explored for this reaction. It was found that the best results were obtained for the synthesis of 2-amino-4H-chromenes and 2-amino-4H-pyran when the three-component reaction was carried out with equivalent molar quantities of each of the reactants in water containing 10 mol% sodium malonate at 70°C for 15 min in 96% yield. After finding optimal conditions, these conditions apply to other reactants and the target heterocyclic products were obtained with excellent yields.

CONCLUSION

This study describes an efficient, environmentally benign, and clean one-pot, three-component synthesis of 2-amino-4H-chromenes and 2-amino-4H-pyran-3-carboxylates in the presence of sodium malonate as the commercially available catalyst in an aqueous medium at 70°C. High yields, mild reaction conditions, relatively shorter reaction times, use of simple reagents, and no requirement of the ultrasound, microwave, and ball milling techniques are the salient features and benefits of the present method. In addition, the present process is smooth and green.

Nanofibre Sepiolite Catalyzed Green and Rapid Synthesis of 2-Amino-4H-chromene Derivatives

Nanofibre sepiolite catalyzed the rapid, clean, and highly efficient synthesis of 2-amino-4H-chromene derivatives by a one-pot, three-component condensation of a series of aldehydes, various enolizable C–H bonds (such as dimedone, α-naphthol, resorcinol, and 4-hydroxy-2H-chromen-2-one), and malononitrile in a mixture of water/ethanol. The present method offers several advantages such as high to excellent yields, short reaction times, mild reaction conditions, simple procedure, use of inexpensive, non-toxic, and naturally available catalyst, easy isolation of the products, and no need for column chromatography. The catalyst could be easily separated from the reaction mixture and can be reused for many consecutive trials without a significant decline in its reactivity.