Current location: JICS Archive > Vol. 6 > No. 2 > Articles : 3

InCl₃ as an Efficient Catalyst for Synthesis of Oxazolines under Thermal, Ultrasonic and Microwave Irradiations

M. Moghadam*, V. Mirkhani*, S. Tangestaninejad, I. Mohammadpoor-Baltork and H. Kargar

Department of Chemistry, Catalysis Division, University of Isfahan, Isfahan 81746-73441, Iran

Efficient synthesis of 2-oxazolines by the reaction of nitriles with β-aminoalcohols using InCl₃ as catalyst under reflux conditions is reported. This catalyst can be successfully applied to the chemoselective conversion of dicyanobenzenes to their corresponding mono- and bis-oxazolines. The application of ultrasonic and microwave irradiation improved the yields and reduced the reaction times. Another advantage of this catalytic system is its ability to carry out large-scale reactions under ultrasonic and MW irradiations. Alkylnitriles such as acetonitrile was also converted to its corresponding 2-methyloxazoline in the presence of catalytic amounts of InCl₃.

Keywords: Indium(III) chloride, Nitrile, Oxazoline, Ultrasonic irradiation, Microwave irradiation