An operationally simple domino approach for the silver-catalyzed synthesis of oxazine/benzoxazine-fused isoquinolines 5a-q and naphthyridines 6a-v by the reaction of o-alkynyl aldehydes 3a-aa with amines having embedded nucleophiles 4a-d under mild reaction condition in water is described. The reaction shows selective C-N bond formation on the more electrophilic alkynyl carbon resulting in the formation of 6-endo-dig cyclized product. The competitive experiments show the viability of an intramolecular nucleophilic attack over an intermolecular attack of the external nucleophile. This methodology accommodates wide functional group variation, which proves to be useful for structural and biological assessment.

The endo-cyclic ring closure of 1-(2-(substituted ethynyl)phenyl)-1H-pyrroles 3a-t and 1-(2-(substituted ethynyl)phenyl)-H-indole 4a-o mediated by Lewis acid (I(2)) under mild conditions afforded substituted 5-iodopyrrolo[1,2-a]quinolines 5a-t and 5-iodoindolo[1,2-a]quinolines 6a-o in good to excellent yields. The reaction shows selective C-C bond formation on the more electrophilic alkynyl carbon, resulting in the regioselective 6-endo-dig-cyclized product. Iodo derivatives of pyrrolo- and indoloquinolines allow functional group diversification on the quinoline nucleus, which proves to be highly advantageous for structural and biological activity assessments.

An environmentally benign and operationally simple one‐pot approach to the regioselective tandem synthesis of diversely substituted fused benzimidazo[2,1‐a]isoquinolines, naphthyridines, thienopyridines, and quinoxalines from o‐alkynylaldehydes and arylamines with tethered nucleophiles using AgI as catalyst in water is described. The reaction showed selective N–C bond formation on the more electrophilic alkynyl carbon, resulting in the regioselective 6‐endo‐dig cyclized products in good to excellent yields. The proposed mechanistic pathway for the synthesis of fused heterocycles proceeding through formation of ring A prior to ring B, which formed through a second intramolecular attack of the nitrogen onto the alkynyl carbon, was supported by mechanistic experiments and X‐ray crystallographic studies of isolated intermediate U and cyclized product 5a. Comparative experiments showed the viability of intramolecular nucleophilic attack over intermolecular attack of an external nucleophile. This catalytic, green protocol has been efficiently applied for the bis‐tandem cyclization in water.

4-Iodo-pyrano[4,3-b]quinolines and ortho-alkynyl esters were synthesized selectively from ortho-alkynyl aldehydes by an iodine-catalyzed and solvent controlled reaction.

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