A Novel One‐Pot Synthesis of Substituted Quinolines

A synthesis of quinoline derivatives is described via reaction between ethyl bromopyruvate (=ethyl 3‐bromo‐2‐oxopropanoate), acetylenedicarboxylate, and isatin (=1H‐indole‐2,3‐dione) in the presence of NaH as a base. Also, these reactions were performed without ethyl bromopyruvate. The reaction in the presence of ethyl bromopyruvate provides regioselectively a quinoline with the ethyl ester group in 4‐position. In the absence of ethyl bromopyruvate, the reaction leads to functionalized quinolines with the same ester groups in 2‐, 3‐, and 4‐positions.