Nickel-Catalyzed Direct Synthesis of Quinoxalines from 2-Nitroanilines and Vicinal Diols: Identifying Nature of the Active Catalyst

The inexpensive and simple NiBr2/1,10-phenanthroline system-catalyzed synthesis of a series of quinoxalines from both 2-nitroanilines and 1,2-diamines is demonstrated. The reusability test for this system was performed up to the seventh cycle, which afforded good yields of the desired product without losing its reactivity significantly. Notably, during the catalytic reaction, the formation of the heterogeneous Ni-particle was observed, which was characterized by PXRD, XPS, and TEM techniques.