Zirconium-catalyzed one-pot synthesis of benzoxazoles using reaction of catechols, aldehydes and ammonium acetate.

In this study, an efficient method for the synthesis of benzoxazoles by coupling catechols, aldehydes and ammonium acetate using ZrCl as catalyst in ethanol is reported. A wide range of benzoxazoles (59 examples) are smoothly produced in high yields (up to 97%). Other advantages of the method include large-scale synthesis and the use of oxygen as an oxidant.

Three-component synthesis of chromeno β-lactam hybrids for inflammation and cancer screening.

Highly diastereoselective synthesis of chromeno β-lactam hybrids was achieved by an efficient one-pot three-component reaction. With this procedure, the desired β-lactam products were obtained in good yields and with exclusive cis stereoselection, by combining a variety of benzaldehydes, malononitrile, and either 5,5-dimethylcyclohexane-1,3-dione or 4-hydroxycoumarin in the presence of 1,4-diazabicyclo [2.2.