Optimization of catalyst
The efficacy of the catalyst was investigated by choosing the condensation reaction of 2-aminobenzimidazole, 1,3-cyclohexadione with benzaldehyde in the presence of catalyst as a model reaction for the preparation of R1 and the condensation of indole, 1,3-cyclohexadione and salicylaldehyde in the presence of catalyst for the preparation of the R2. The reactions were strived with various catalytic materials such as raw Mont K-10, HPAs viz., H3[PMo12O40] (PMo), H4[PVMo11O40] (PVMo) and H5[PV2Mo10O40] (PV2Mo) & 10% HPAs loaded Mont K-10 clay, PVMoK-10 and PV2MoK-10. Product yield in percentages was used to assess the performance of the selected catalyst, and the results are summarised in Table 1. Clearly, the results reveal that the performance of 10% catalysts-PVMoK-10 & PV2Mo-K10 are found to be very high compared to both raw Mont-K10 clay and vanadium substituted heteropoly acids. Both vanadium (V) substituted HPAs loaded Mont-K10 clay show more or less similar catalytic efficacy. Hence, PVMoK-10 has been selected as catalyst for the current investigation.
Table 1. Optimization of catalyst for one-pot three component synthesis of 12-phenyl-3,4,5,12-tetrahydrobenzo[4,5]imidazo[2,1-b]quinazolin-1(2H)-one and 9-(1H-indol-3-yl)-2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-1H-xanthen-1-one derivativea
Run
|
Catalyst
|
Catalyst amount
(g)
|
Yieldb (%)
|
|
|
|
|
R1
|
R2
|
1.
|
Mont-K10
|
0.05
|
43
51
62
65
75
94
95
|
42
|
39
|
2.
|
PMo
|
0.05
|
48
|
47
|
3.
|
PVMo
|
0.05
|
54
|
56
|
4.
|
PV2Mo
|
0.05
|
66
|
59
|
5.
|
PMo-K10
|
0.05
|
74
|
62
|
6.
|
PVMo-K10
|
0.05
|
94
|
88
|
7.
|
PV2Mo-K10
|
0.05
|
92
|
88
|
Reaction conditions: R1: 2-aminobenzimidazole (1 mmol), 1,3-cyclohexadione (1 mmol) and benzaldehyde (1 mmol), Solvent-free condition, 100 °C, 1h.
R2: Indole (1 mmol), 1,3-cyclohexadione (1 mmol) and salicylaldehyde (1 mmol), Solvent-free condition, 100 °C, 1h.
bIsolated Yields.
Dependency of different loadings of PVMo on Mont K-10 clay
The catalytic performances of PVMo loaded Mont K-10 for about 5 %, 10 %, 30 % and 40 % were evolved for both the reactions as per the reported procedure [51]. The efficiency of the catalysts was evaluated in terms of percentage yield of products (R1 and R2). The results are summarised in Table 2. It is found that the 10% PVMoK-10 showed equivalent efficiency as that of 20% and 30% loading of PVMo on Mont-K10 and hence 10% PVMoK-10 has been selected as the catalyst to perform the present synthetic transformation.
Table 2. Effect of different loadings of PVMo on Mont-K10 in synthesis of 12-phenyl-3,4,5,12-tetrahydrobenzo[4,5]imidazo[2,1-b]quinazolin-1(2H)-one and 9-(1H-indol-3-yl)-2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-1H-xanthen-1-one derivativea
Run
|
% of loading of PVMo on Mont-K10
|
Catalyst amount
(g)
|
Yieldb (%)
|
R1
|
R2
|
1.
|
5
|
0.05
|
73
|
71
|
2.
|
10
|
0.05
|
94
|
88
|
3.
|
20
|
0.05
|
95
|
88
|
4.
|
30
|
0.05
|
95
|
89
|
aReaction conditions: R1: 2-aminobenzimidazole (1 mmol), 1,3-cyclohexadione (1 mmol) and benzaldehyde (1 mmol), Solvent-free condition, 100 °C, 1h.
R2: Indole (1 mmol), 1,3-cyclohexadione (1 mmol) and salicylaldehyde (1 mmol), Solvent-free condition, 100 °C, 1h.
bIsolated Yields.
Dependency of solvents
The reactions were run in different solvent media such as EtOH, MeOH, H2O, MeCN, DCE, DMF, CHCl3, 1,4-dioxane, n-hexane and toluene at elevated temperature (refluxing for an hour). The reaction was also attempted under solvent-free reaction condition. The results of the experiments in terms of yield of products R1 and R2 are given in Table 3. The results favours the solvent-free reaction condition for the present synthetic transformation since the yield of products under this condition is excellent.
Table 3. Dependency of different solvent medium for synthesis R1 & R2 catalyzed by 10%PVMoK-10 a
S. No
|
Solvent used
|
Yieldb(%)
|
R1
|
R2
|
1
|
EtOH
|
57
|
51
|
2
|
MeOH
|
71
|
64
|
3
|
H2O
|
31
|
27
|
4
|
CH3CN
|
28
|
22
|
5
|
DCE
|
57
|
53
|
6
|
DMF
|
30
|
26
|
7
|
CHCl3
|
39
|
33
|
8
|
1,4-dioxane
|
32
|
28
|
9
|
n-Hexane
|
40
|
42
|
10
|
Toluene
|
55
|
49
|
11c
|
Solvent free
|
94
|
88
|
aReaction conditions: R1: 1,3-cyclohexadione (1 mmol), 2-aminobenzimidazole (1 mmol) and benzaldehyde (1 mmol), Solvent-free condition, 10% PVMo-K10 0.05 g, Stirring at 1 h.
R2: 1,3-cyclohexadione(1mmol), Indole (1 mmol) and salicylaldehyde (1 mmol), Solvent-free condition, 10% PVMo-K10 0.05 g, Stirring at 1 h.
bIsolated Yields, c100 °C.
Synthesis of benzimidazoquinazolinone derivatives
The optimized reaction procedure has been adapted for the preparation of ten derivatives of R1 (4a – 4j) using 2-aminobenzimidazole, 1,3-cyclohexadione and ten structurally diverse aldehydes. The reaction pattern is schematically explained in Scheme 1 and the results are consolidated in Table 4.
Synthesis of indolylxanthenone derivatives
Similarly, the optimized reaction procedure has been adapted for the preparation of two derivatives of R2 (4k and 4l) using 1,3-cyclohexadione, salicylaldehyde and two different indoles. The reaction pattern is schematically explained in Scheme 2 and the results are consolidated in Table 5.
With the help of above procedure, ten different R1 derivatives (4a-4j) and two different R2 derivatives (4k and 4l) have been synthesized through one-pot reaction condition using 10% PVMoK-10 catalyst in solvent-free reaction condition. The details of specific reactants used, products formed (4a-4l) and their percentages of yields are collected in Table 4 and 5.
Further HRMS (Fig.1) of optimized reaction product 12-phenyl-3,4,5,12-tetrahydrobenzo[4,5]imidazo[2,1-b]quinazolin-1(2H)-one (4a) with the molecular ion peak at 315.0428 confirms the formation of the expected product. Analytical as well as the spectral data of the compounds 4a- l are appended as supplementary materials.
Tentative mechanism
The tentative mechanism for the synthesis of R1 derivatives using 10% PVMoK-10 catalyst as a promoter has been arrived based on the mechanism reported by Jolodar and Shirini [58] and is shown in Scheme 3. The catalysis involves the following sequence:
(i) The nucleophilic attack of enol form of 1,3-cyclohexadione on the carbonyl carbon of aldehyde leads to the formation of intermediate (I)
(ii) Dehydration of the intermediate (I) forms intermediate (II)
(iii) The hastening of the nucleophilic attack of the amine group on intermediate (II) leads to the formation of (IV) through the intermediate (III) and
(iv) Dehydration of (IV) leads to the formation of desired product.
10 % loaded solid heteropoly acid, PVMo on Mont K-10 catalytic material accelerates the organic transformation.
The plausible mechanism for the synthesis of R2 derivatives using 10% PVMoK-10 as a promoter has been arrived as per the mechanisms reported in the literature [44, 45] and is shown in Scheme 4. The reaction sequence is given as follows:
(i) The nucleophilic attack of enol form of 1,3-cyclohexadione on the carbonyl carbon of salicylaldehyde leads to the formation of intermediate (I).
(ii) The nucleophile indole reacts at the benzylidene double bond of the intermediate (I) which further experiences ring-closure reaction intra-molecularly followed by dehydration and give the desired product.
The primary role of heteropoly acid is a source of proton, which activates the carbonyl group.
Recycling of the catalyst
The separation of the catalyst and its reusability are the two most important criteria for the green catalysts.
In the present investigation, the catalyst from the reaction mixture wasseparated by simply adding excess ethanol with the fused mass produced at the end of the condensation reaction. The product obtained wasdissolved in ethanol whereas the catalyst was separated from the reaction mixture as insoluble residue, filtered off, washed thoroughly with ethanol and dried in hot air oven for an hour at 120 oC.The catalyst thus recovered was reused under the same reaction conditions. It was observed that the reuse of the catalytic material 10% PVMo-K10 showed gradual decrease in its activity. The consecutive performance of the catalyst thus recovered was examined in terms of its % yield of the products and was found to be sustainable for about five times.