Reaction under Ball-Milling: Solvent- and Metal-Free One-Pot Diastereoselective Synthesis of Tetrahydroquinoline Derivatives as Potential Antibacterial and Anticancer Agents

A mild and efficient one-pot, three-component ball-mill-assisted reaction of aldehydes, anilines, and dihydrofuran (or dihydropyran and cyclohexenone) has been described for the first time in the presence of the catalytic amount of aqueous perchloric acid (8 mol%) at room temperature under organic solvent- and metal-free conditions. The reactions are fast (1 h), providing the products with excellent yields and high diastereoselectivity. This procedure endows a simple, efficient, and cost-effective method for the diastereoselective synthesis of furano- and pyrano-tetrahydroquinolines and phenanthridinone derivatives, which are important biological compounds. The diastereomers with cis configuration were isolated as major products. The H–H COSY, NOESY experiments and X-ray crystallographic analysis of selected compounds were performed to confirm the cis isomer. The synthesized tetrahydroquinolines have been evaluated in vitro for their antibacterial and anticancer activities, and it was found that both the prepared compounds showed significant antibacterial and anticancer properties.