Synthesis of 4-styrylquinazolines using copper-based porous solid catalyst

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are one of the solid porous materials, frequently used as heterogeneous catalysts for organic transformations. In this aspect, we report here the catalytic performance of Cu 3 (BTC) 2 (BTC: 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) as a solid porous material for the synthesis of 4-styrylquinazolines from the sequential reactions between 2-aminochalcone and alcohols in good yields in short reaction time. Out of the MOFs tested for this transformation, Cu 3 (BTC) 2 shows 86% yield of 2-methyl-4-styrylquinazoline from 2-aminochalcone and ethanol at 60 °C after 10 min. Under these conditions, Cu 3 (BTC) 2 exhibits wide substrate scope for the synthesis of series of 4-styrylquinazoline derivatives. The catalyst stability is also ascertained by performing reusability experiments and the activity is maintained for at least four cycles. In addition, significant changes are observed between the fresh and the four times used solids by powder XRD, FT-IR, UV-Vis and SEM methods. Further, the optimized reaction conditions are also extended to obtain quinazoline derivatives from 2-aminoacetophenone, 2-aminobenzophenone and alcohols.