A substrate-induced dual utilization cascade reaction of N-alkyl anilines: highly site-selective sustainable synthesis of chromeno[4,3-b]quinolin-6-ones†

We describe a novel substrate-induced cascade reaction of N-alkyl anilines via C(sp³)–N bond cleavage and reorganization into chromeno[4,3-b]quinolin-6-ones. N-alkyl anilines are not only used as a carbon source, but also the waste group was trapped by 4-hydroxy coumarin. The calculation of green metrics shows that our protocol is more efficient and green with lower emission than before. Additionally, a gram-scale reaction and one-pot synthesis of bioactive molecules further demonstrate the potential application of our protocol in the pharmaceutical industry.