Thermo-promoted annulation of arylboronic acids with anthranils under catalyst-free conditions: Access to acridines

Acridine derivatives have exhibited great application prospects in organic photovoltaic devices. An efficient and atomically economical synthetic method was developed for the production of acridines from anthranils using arylboronic acids. This protocol features no catalysts, good functional group tolerance, and operational simplicity. This catalyst-free process afforded various acridines in moderate to good yields, providing an efficient platform for the investigation of untapped reactions at high temperatures.