Background:
Hexahydro-2H-pyrano[3,2-c]quinolines are known to have antibacterial, antifungal, and antitumor
properties. Great efforts have been made to develop new synthetic methods that lead to the synthesis of valuable libraries.
Extensive methodologies, low yields, excessive amounts of catalyst and expensive reactants are some of the limitations of
current methodologies.
Aim and Objective:
Developing a useful and efficient method to construct diversely substituted hexahydro-2H-pyrano[3,2-
c]quinolines into good to excellent yields through a cationic imino-Diels-Alder/N-debenzylation methodology.
Method:
The cationic imino-Diels-Alder/N-debenzylation methodology was used for the preparation of substituted
hexahydro-2H-pyrano[3,2-c]quinolines. It involves the use of Sc(OTf)3 for activation of cationic imino-Diels-Alder
cycloaddition reaction of N-benzylanilines, 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran and paraformaldehyde in MeCN; and microwave
irradiation to shorten reaction time to afford new 6-benzyl-hexahydro-2H-pyrano[3,2-c]quinolines whose catalytic transfer
debenzylation reactions with HCO2NH4 in the presence of Pd/C (10%) and methanol give the new 5-unsubstituted pyrano[3,2-
c]quinolines in excellent yields.
Results:
We found that optimal conditions for the preparation of hexahydro-2H-pyrano[3,2-c]quinolines were Sc(OTf)3 0,5
% and acetonitrile at 160 ° C for 15 min; and using paraformaldehyde obtained the 6-benzyl-hexahydro-2H-pyrano [3,2-
c]quinolines with excellent yields, while the N-debenzylation process using ammonium formate in the presence of Pd/C and
methanol resulted in the synthesis of hexahydro-2H-pyrano [3,2-c] quinolines with quantitative yields (95-98%).
Conclusion:
We describe an efficient method to synthesize hexahydro-2H-pyrano[3,2-c]quinolines via the cationic iminoDiels-Alder/N-debenzylation methodology using Sc(OTf)3 0,5 % as Lewis Acid catalyst. Excellent yields of the products,
using of MW irradiation, short times of reactions and an efficient and highly diversified method are some of the main
advantages of this new protocol.