Bromodimethylsulfonium bromide: an efficient catalyst for one-pot synthesis of 4-phenacylidene flavene derivatives

The synthesis of 4-phenacylidene flavenes (3) was accomplished by a one-pot pseudo three-component condensation reaction between salicylaldehydes and acetophenones in the presence of 20 mol % of bromodimethylsulfonium bromide (BDMS) in acetonitrile at room temperature. The attractive features of this protocol are: use of organo-catalyst BDMS, simple reaction procedure, high bond-forming efficiency, good yields, and environmentally benign reaction conditions.