A new pathway to pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines via solvent-free one-pot strategy utilizing FeMoSe nanosheets as efficient recyclable synergistic catalyst

Abstract FeMoSe nanocatalyst was synthesized using solvothermal approach from readily available precursors, namely Mo(CO)6, FeSO4 and Se, and characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic analyses. The FeMoSe material offered high catalytic activity in the synthesis of pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines via solvent-free one-pot strategy starting from 2-nitroanilines. Compared to previous works, the significant advantages of our protocols are: (i) solvent-free simple, direct synthesis; (ii) using phenylacetic acids as both Bronsted acid catalysts and reactants; (iii) no requirement of any external oxidants or reductants; and (iv) recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for cyclization. To our best knowledge, synthesis of pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines using such a synergistic bimetallic system was not previously reported.