Synthesis of N-Alkyl-Substituted 4-Quinolones via Tandem Alkenyl and Aryl C-N Bond Formation

N-Alkyl-substituted 4-quinolones are present as the key structural motif in many marketed drugs. An efficient one-step tandem amination approach was developed to afford N-alkyl-substituted 4-quinolones in high yields from easily accessible o-chloroaryl acetylenic ketones and functionalized alkyl amines. The approach complements and extends our previous work. Compared with other reported methods, the current method provides a very simple and convenient route.