1 Faculty of Chemistry, VNU University of Science, Vietnam National University in Hanoi, 19 Le Thanh Tong, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
2 Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, CNRS UPR 2301, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 1, Av de la Terrasse, Gif-sur-Yvette 91198, France.
Elemental sulfur and DABCO were found to be an excellent combination to promote a one-pot cascade of condensation-oxidative cyclization of chalcones and unsubstituted cyanoacetamide in DMSO to provide 3-cyanopyrid-2-ones.