An efficient synthesis of 2,3-disubstituted quinoline derivatives from easily accessible (het)aryl-substituted Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) adducts was achieved by an approach involving a palladium-catalyzed Heck reaction and cyclization. This strategy converts the MBH adducts into α-benzyl β-keto ester derivatives that can cyclize into the corresponding quinolines in good yields.
Key words
quinolines - cyclizations - catalysis - palladium - Heck reactions - tandem reactions