Synthesis of Chromeno[4,3- b ]pyrrol-4(1 H )-ones through a Multicomponent Reaction and Cyclization Strategy.

A novel three-component reaction of 2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carbaldehydes with isocyanides and anilines was developed for one-pot assembly of biologically intriguing chromeno[4,3-b]pyrrol-4(1H)-ones, which can also be transferred into diverse polycyclic fused scaffolds through further synthetic manipulations. The described method tolerates a broad substrate scope and proceeds in moderate to good yield via a sequential multicomponent reaction and intramolecular Michael cyclization.