A Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed cascade reaction of o-aminoacetophenone with methanamine: construction of dibenzo[b,h][1,6]naphthyridine derivatives

Org Biomol Chem. 2015 Feb 21;13(7):2122-8. doi: 10.1039/c4ob02220c.

Abstract

An unexpected Sc(OTf)3-catalyzed and air-mediated cascade reaction of o-aminoacetophenones with methanamines was discovered as an efficient synthetic approach to a novel class of fluorescent fused-four-ring dibenzo[b,h][1,6]naphthyridine derivatives. Two possible mechanisms of the reaction were proposed. The photophysical properties of the dibenzo[b,h][1,6]naphthyridine were initially considered.