Synthesis of quinolines via sequential addition and I-2-mediated desulfurative cyclization

An efficient one-pot approach for the synthesis of quinolines from o-aminothiophenol and 1,3-ynone under mild conditions is disclosed. With the aid of ESI-MS analysis and parallel experiments, a three-step mechanism is proposed-a two-step Michael addition-cyclization condensation step leading to intermediate 1,5-benzothiazepine catalyzed by zirconocene amino acid complex Cp2Zr(eta(1)-C9H10NO2)(2), followed by I-2-mediated desulfurative step.