p‐toluenesulfonic acid‐catalyzed synthesis of polysubstituted quinolines via Friedländer reaction under ball‐milling conditions at room temperature and theoretical study on the mechanism using a density functional theory method

The synthesis of polysubstituted quinolines was accomplished through Friedländer annulation between 2‐aminoaryl ketones and different active methylene compounds at room temperature using ball‐milling technique in the presence of p‐toluenesulfonic acid. The mechanism of the reaction investigated by density functional theory‐based modeling is also reported. This study aims at giving insight into the mechanism of the Friedländer reaction in the presence of acid catalysts. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.