CuI-mediated benzannulation of (ortho-arylethynyl)phenylenaminones to assemble α-aminonaphthalene derivatives

Abstract

A copper-mediated annulation protocol for new (ortho-arylethynyl)phenyl enaminones bearing a N,N-dimethylamine moiety was developed to facilely install a series of α-aminonaphthalene derivatives. Simple manuipulation of exogenous amines readily offers the structural diversity of the resulting α-aminonaphthalenes. Preliminary investigation of the photophysical features of the representative as-prepared compounds demonstrated their tunable fluorescence properties.