A new and facile access to the 2-(indol-3-yl)-3-nitriloquinolines based on Friedländer annulations

Preparation of 2-(indol-3-yl)-3-nitriloquinolines via Friedländer quinoline synthesis using 3-cyanoacetylindoles possessing an α-methylene group and ortho-amino arylketones have been described. This reaction took place in PEG-400 as a green solvent and it is catalyzed with polyphosphoric acid (PPA) to give novel types of quinolines containing both indoles and cyano functions in one step under thermal and microwave conditions.