A copper(II)-catalyzed protocol for modified Friedländer quinoline synthesis

2-Aminobenzyl alcohol reacts with an array of ketones in dioxane at 100 °C in the presence of a catalytic amount of CuCl2 along with KOH under O2 atmosphere to afford the corresponding quinolines in good yields. 2-Aminobenzyl alcohol is also oxidatively coupled and cyclized with various aldehydes by step-by-step procedure, an initial treatment of 2-aminobenzyl alcohol in the presence of CuCl2 and KOH in dioxane under O2 atmosphere and subsequent addition of aldehyde to the mixture followed by stirring under argon atmosphere, to give 3-substituted quinolines in moderate to good yields.