A room temperature one-pot Knoevenagel-Chan-Evans-Lam coupling reaction for synthesis of N-aryl-2-Iminocoumarins in bio-mass-derived green solvent 2-methylTHF

An efficient approach for the synthesis of biologically interesting N-aryl-2-iminocoumarins by a copper-catalyzed one-pot procedure has been developed by the reaction of 2-hydroxybenzaldehydes, malononitrile and arylboronic acids using triethylamine as a base in a bio-mass-derived green solvent 2-MethylTHF at room temperature. This protocol allows access to several N-aryl-2-iminocoumarins in high yields in a relatively short period of time under mild reaction conditions. The procedure operates by a simple telescoped process wherein 2-imino-2H-chromene-3-carbonitriles are formed in situ by the reaction of 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde, malononitrile, and TEA. Further a subsequent one-pot reaction of imine with the arylboronic afforded the target compounds. To understand the reaction mechanism, MALDI-ESI studies were performed, which showed the in situ generated iminocoumarins to be in ligation cooper to form a copper-iminocoumarin complex thus facilitating the smooth formation of N-aryl-2-iminocoumarins in the reaction. Overall, this protocol is practically valuable, useful in organic synthesis, shows good functional group tolerance and provides access to a diverse array of N-aryl-2-iminocoumarins derivatives.