Synthesis of 11 H -Benzo[b]Fluoren-11-One via an Unprecedented Cascade Reaction of O -Phthaladehyde

AbstractDeveloping multicomponent reactions in a cascade manner is a long-standing interest to chemists to access valuable organic materials more economically. Herein, we described a simple, economically viable method for synthesizing 11H-benzo[b]fluoren-11-one, a dual-state organic fluorophore, starting from ortho phthalaldehyde (OPA) in DMSO solvent. Simple and rapid product isolation, high atom economy, short reaction time, and scalability are the attractive features of the method. During the optimization of the reaction condition, we observed that DMSO, DMF, and acetone served one carbon to form the said compound besides their role as solvents. A plausible mechanism has been proposed based on the evidence obtained from LCMS analysis of the incomplete reaction mixture.Keywords: Ortho phthalaldehydebenzo fluorenonemechanistic studytandem aldol condensation AcknowledgmentThe authors are thankful to Jadavpur University, Kolkata, for infrastructural and financial support.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).