Synthesis of 1H-isochromenes, 4H-chromenes,and ortho-aminocarbonitrile tetrahydronaphthalenes from the same reactants by using metal-free catalyst

A facile and rapid multicomponent synthesis of pharmaceutically diverse 1H-isochromenes, 4H-chromenes, and ortho-aminocarbonitrile tetrahydronaphthalenes has been developed from benzaldehyde, malononitrile, and cyclohexanone. Three different methods from the same reactants, solvent, temperature, and catalyst lead to three products with excellent yields. All the reactions were followed with the Michael addition and cyclization. In this study, morpholine was used as an active metal-free base catalyst that increases the yields of products and decreases the time of reactions.