Simple and solvent free practical procedurefor chalcones: An expeditious, mild andgreener approach

Abstract

An extremely simple, expeditious and greener synthetic method for a variety of chalcone derivatives (3) under mild and solvent free reaction conditions has been developed. The present protocol discloses the use of p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA) as a solid phase organocatalyst which accelerates the Claisen–Schmidt condensation reaction dramatically under mild conditions. Various aryl aldehydes (1) were treated with differently substituted aryl ketones (2) in the presence of p-TSA at 50–60 C to yield the desired products in a very short period of reaction time. Mild reaction conditions, clean reaction media, expulsion of hazardous solvents, simple work-up, exclusive formation of products in high yields without side products, and easy purification are advantages of the present methodology.