Microbial cyclosophoraose as a catalyst for the synthesis of diversified indolyl 4H-chromenes via one-pot three component reactions in water

Abstract

As a novel biosourced saccharide catalyst, microbial cyclosophoraose, a cyclic β-(1,2) glucan, was used for the synthesis of therapeutically important versatile indolyl 4H-chromenes via a one pot three-component Knoevenagel–Michael addition–cyclization reaction of salicylaldehyde, 1,3-cyclohexanedione/dimedone, and indoles in water under neutral conditions. A possible reaction mechanism through molecular complexation is suggested based on 2D ROESY NMR spectroscopic analysis. Moreover, green chemistry metric calculations were carried out for a model reaction, indicating the satisfactory greener approach of this method, with a low E-factor (0.18) and high atom economy (AE = 91.20%). The key features of this protocol are based on two critical factors where the first is to use a novel eco-friendly supramolecular carbohydrate catalyst and the second is its fine green properties such as compatibility with various substituted reactants, recyclability of the catalyst, chromatography-free purification, high product selectivity, and clean conversion with moderate to excellent yields in an aqueous medium.