Novel synthesis of substituted furo[3,2-c]chromen-4-ones via four-component reaction from substituted nitrostyrenes, aromatic aldehydes, coumarins, and ammonium acetate.

An efficient and direct synthesis of 2-arylideneamino-3-aryl-4H-furo[3,2-c]chromen-4-ones has been developed via four-component reaction from substituted nitrostyrenes, aromatic aldehydes, coumarins, and ammonium acetate under very mild conditions, which involves sequentially a Michael addition, an aza-nucleophilic addition, of the imine to the double bond, an intermolecular nucleophilic addition and a dehydration reaction. The resulting biologically intriguing structures could have broad applications in related biomedical-program structures.