Quinacetophenone: a simple precursor for synthesis of phenoxazines

Abstract

Quinacetophenone is a versatile and easy accessible building block for synthesis of various biologically active heterocyclic compounds. The inherent chemical reactivity of quinacetophenone has been hitherto utilized to construct various privileged organic molecules such as chalcones, chromones, flavonoids, coumarins and azoles etc. Herein we present an operationally simple method of synthesis of phenoxazines from quinacetophenone and anilines that exploits the inherent chemical reactivity of quinacetophenone. ESI-MS was used as a tool to establish the most plausible reaction mechanism.