An improved method for the regioselective synthesis of highly substituted quinolines from Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts

The synthesis of highly substituted quinolines was accomplished through a Heck reaction of substituted iodoanilines with Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) adducts employing Nájera N-oxime derived palladacycle as catalyst. The reaction is completely regioselective and gives the products with good to excellent yields (up to 89%) with low catalyst loading and TONs of up to 89.