Groebke‐Blackburn‐Bienaymé Multicomponent Reaction Catalysed by Reusable Brønsted‐Acidic Ionic Liquids

Abstract

AbstractIn the present work, the use of Brønsted acidic ionic liquids (BAIL) as catalysts for Groebke‐Blackburn‐Bienaymé (GBB) multicomponent reactions was systematically investigated. A series of four 1‐(butyl‐4‐sulfonic)‐3‐methylimidazolium salts bearing different anions was easily prepared and screened as acidic catalysts for this transformation. The best reaction conditions were stablished as 20 mol % of catalyst [(SO3H)4C4C1Im][OTf] in refluxing EtOH or MeOH under conventional heating and in sealed tube at 150 °C for 1–4 hours under microwave heating, affording a series of imidazo‐fused heterocycles in moderate to excellent yields (42–93 %). The homogeneous BAIL catalyst could be recycled and reused in four consecutive reaction cycles, despite of a laborious recovery procedure employed. This approach represents the first example of a task‐specific reusable homogeneous Brønsted acidic catalyst in GBB reactions and opens new opportunities for the exploration of acidic ionic liquid phases as catalysts for this fascinating multicomponent reaction.