Base-promoted regioselective synthesis of 1,2,3,4-terahydroquinolines and quinolines from N-boc-3-piperidone

An efficient synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines with donor and acceptor group has been delineated by base mediated ring transformation of 6-aryl-4-substituted-2H-pyran-2-one-3-carbonitriles by N-boc-3-piperidone followed by consecutive deprotection of Boc group under acidic conditions. This reaction involves 2 new bond formations namely C4a-C5 and C8a-C8 in order to create the nucleus. Various donor and acceptor functional groups like aryl, heteroaryl, nitrile, methylsulfanyl and secondary amine were installed in 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines. We extended our approach to synthesize the fused 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines by using 2-oxobenzo[h]chromenes as precursor. Further, we synthesized fused and isolated quinolines through aromatization of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines by DDQ in excellent yields. Single-crystal X-ray analysis of the Boc protected tetrahydroisoquinoline 6t showed the steric hindrance between N-Boc and aryl group.