Ready and selective access to 2-arylquinazolines from α-amino acids via a new solvent-free domino transformation under synergistic nano Fe-Mo-Se catalyst

A Fe-Mo-Se nanopowder, synthesized by a solvothermal protocol, was utilized as a heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of 2-arylquinazolines from DL-α-phenylglycine-based α-amino acids and 2-nitrobenzyl alcohols via domino transformations. High yields and selectivity were achieved under solvent-free conditions. The Fe-Mo-Se catalyst offered considerably higher activity than numerous homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. To our best knowledge, this domino reaction is new, and the utilization of iron-molybdenum selenide catalyst in the synthesis of quinazolines was not previously reported.