432
S. Asghari et al. / Chinese Chemical Letters 25 (2014) 431–434
NH
2
CO Et
2
OH
CHO
O
CO Et
2
DMAP (10 mol%)
reflux
+
+
H O/EtOH,
CN
2
N
O
N
O
R
CH
R
2
3
CH
3
1
3
4
Scheme 1. Synthesis of pyranoquinoline derivatives 4a–i.
and 4-hydroxy-1-methyl-2(1H)-quinolinone and resulted in pro-
ducts 4b–i in excellent yields (Table 3).
2.2. General procedure for evaluation of antibacterial activity
A plausible rationalization for the reaction mechanism is shown
in Scheme 2. Presumably, compound 5 is formed via Knoevenagel
condensation between aldehyde 2 and ethyl cyanoacetate 3 in the
presence of a catalytic amount of DMAP. Then, the enolate 6, which
is obtained from the reaction between quinolinone 1 and DMAP,
performs the Michael addition to intermediate 5 to generate the
intermediate 7. This intermediate enolizes to produce 8, which
subsequently undergoes an intramolecular cyclization reaction to
form 9. Then, intermediate 9 undergoes a 1,3-proton shift to afford
the product 4 exclusively.
The in vitro biocidal screening, antibacterial activity of
compounds 4a, 4c, 4d, 4f and 4g was assayed using the Kirby–
Bauer disc diffusion method where a filter disc was impregnated
with the compounds and placed on the surface of inoculated agar
plates. The synthesized compounds were dissolved in DMSO to
make a 20 mg mLꢀ1 solution then filtered through a sterilized
0.22
mm Ministart (Sartorius) filter. The antibacterial activity of
the products was investigated against four bacterial species. Test
organisms included Escherichia coli PTCC 1330, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa PTCC 1074, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 35923 and
Bacillus subtilis PTCC 1023. Late exponential phase of the bacteria
was prepared by inoculating 1% (v/v) of the cultures into a fresh
Muller–Hinton broth (Merck) and incubating on an orbital shaker
at 37 8C and 100 rpm overnight. Before using the cultures, they
were standardized with a final cell density of approximately
108 cfu mLꢀ1. Muller–Hinton agar (Merck) was prepared and
inoculated from the standardized cultures of the test organisms
then spread as uniformly as possible throughout the entire media.
Sterile paper discs (6 mm diameter, Padtan, Iran) were impreg-
The structures of compounds 4a–i were consistent with their
1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR and mass spectra and elemental analysis.
Table 1
The effects of different catalytic amounts of DMAP and HMT on the reaction of 4-
nitrobenzaldehyde, ethyl cyanoacetate and 4-hydroxy-1-methyl-2(1H)-quinoli-
none in H2O/EtOH (1:1) under reflux.
Entry
Catalyst
Mol (%)
Time (h)
Yield of 4a (%)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
DMAP
DMAP
DMAP
DMAP
DMAP
DMAP
HMT
30
20
10
5
2
90
nated with 20
mL of the compound solution then allowed to dry.
2
90
The impregnated disc was introduced on the upper layer of the
seeded agar plate and incubated at 37 8C for 24 h. The antibacterial
activity of the products was compared with known antibiotic
2.5
2.5
2.5
7
87
70
3
60
0
Trace
80
gentamicin (10
m
g/disc) and chloramphenicol (30
mg/disc) as
30
20
2
positive controls and DMSO (20
m
L/disc) as negative control.
HMT
2
75
Antibacterial activity was evaluated by measuring the diameter of
the inhibition zone (mm) on the surface of the plates and the
results were reported as mean ꢁ SD after three repeats.
Table 2
The effects of different solvents on the reaction of 4-nitrobenzaldehyde, ethyl
cyanoacetate and 4-hydroxy-1-methyl-2(1H)-quinolinone using DMAP (10 mol%)
under reflux condition.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Chemistry
Entry
Solvent
Yield of 4a (%)
1
2
3
4
H2O/EtOH (1:1)
DMF
90
90
85
20
Initially, we investigated different conditions including cata-
lysts and solvents to optimize the reaction. As a model reaction, a
mixture of 4-nitrobenzaldehyde, ethyl cyanoacetate and 4-
hydroxy-1-methyl-2(1H)-quinolinone was treated in the absence
of any catalyst in which trace amount of the product 4a was
obtained. Then, the model reaction was performed in the presence
of various amounts of DMAP and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT).
It was noted that 10 mol% of DMAP provided the best result in
terms of yield and time. Using HMT instead of DMAP, the reaction
proceeded with a decreased yield (Table 1).
Acetone
H2O
Table 3
Synthesis of dihydropyrano[3,2-c]quinoline derivatives catalyzed by DMAP
(10 mol%) in H2O/EtOH (1:1) under reflux condition.
Entry
Product
R
Yield (%)
The model reaction was optimized using various solvents to
obtain the best yield of 4a. Among different solvents, the best
results were obtained using H2O/EtOH (1:1) and DMF. Thus, we
preferred to carry out the reactions using H2O/EtOH (1:1) as an
ecofriendly and safe medium. The results are summarized in
Table 2.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
4a
4b
4c
4d
4e
4f
NO2
H
96
88
92
90
87
92
94
70
65
CN
Cl
Br
CH3
OCH3
Furyl
Biphenyl
4g
4h
4i
With the optimal reaction conditions, the reactions of some
other aromatic aldehydes were carried out with ethyl cyanoacetate