The Convenient Synthesis of 11‐Methyl‐3,8‐disubstituted‐12‐aryl‐3,4,7,8,9,12‐hexahydro‐1H‐chromeno[2,3‐b]quinoline‐1,10(2H)‐dione Derivatives

The 2‐arylidene‐3‐oxobutanenitrile derivatives 2 were prepared by the Knoevenagel condensation between aldehydes and 3‐oxobutanenitrile 1 , which was obtained by acid hydrolysis of β‐aminocrotononitrile. 3‐Acetyl‐2‐amino‐4H‐chromen‐5(6H)‐one derivatives 3 were synthesized by reaction of 2‐arylidene‐3‐oxobutanenitrile 2 and 5‐substituted‐1,3‐cyclohexanedione in ethylene glycol. The 11‐methyl‐3,8‐disubstituted‐12‐aryl‐3,4,7,8,9,12‐hexahydro‐1H‐chromeno2,3‐b]quinoline‐1,10(2H)‐dione derivatives 4 were obtained by Friedländer reaction of compounds 3 with 5‐substituted‐1,3‐cyclohexanedione, using p‐toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate as catalyst. The structures of all novel compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, MS, and ¹H NMR spectra. The crystal and molecular structure of compound 4f has been determined by single crystal XRD analysis.