Sodium dodecyl sulfate catalyzed one-pot three-component synthesis of structurally diverse 2-amino-3-cyano-4-substitued-4H-chromenes in aqueous medium at room temperature.

A simple, efficient and environmentally benign method has been developed for the synthesis of a variety of 2-amino-3-cyano-4-substitued-4H-chromenes in excellent yields. The synthesis was accomplished via one-pot three-component reactions of salicylaldehydes, malononitrile and various nucleophiles in the presence of a catalytic amount of sodium dodecyl sulfate as a surfactant type organocatalyst in water at room temperature. All the nucleophiles afforded the desired products in excellent yields of 82-98%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]