A highly effective one-pot synthesis of quinolines from o-nitroarylcarbaldehydes

A highly effective one-pot Friedlander quinoline synthesis using inexpensive reagents has been developed. o-Nitroarylcarbaldehydes were reduced to o-aminoarylcarbaldehydes with iron in the presence of catalytic HCl (aq.) and subsequently condensed in situ with aldehydes or ketones to form mono- or di-substituted quinolines in high yields (66–100%).