Synthesis of Alkyl and Aryl Substituted Benzo[h]Naphtho[1,2-b][1,6]naphthyridines

The reaction of 4-chloro-2-methylquinolines and 1-naphthylamine under neat conditions yielded 2-methyl-N-(1-naphthyl)quinolin-4-amines. These potential intermediates on reaction with aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids yielded the respective 7-alkyl and -aryl substituted benzo[h]naphtho[1,2-b][1,6]naphthyridines. The highly deshielded protons in the final compounds were assigned on the basis of 2D NMR studies.