I2-Catalyzed three-component protocol for the synthesis of quinazolines

An efficient and one-pot three-component strategy for synthesizing highly functionalized quinazoline derivatives is presented. A mixture of 2-aminobenzophenone, aromatic aldehyde and ammonium acetate in the presence of I2-catalyst provides desired products in excellent yields even at moderate temperature (40 °C) without the involvement of any chromatographic purification. Oxidizing and Lewis acidic properties of molecular I2 have been utilized here. Detailed mechanism has been established based on an isolated intermediate and its single crystal X-ray crystallographic structure.