Room temperature ligand-free Cu2O–H2O2 catalyzed tandem oxidative synthesis of quinazoline-4(3H)-one and quinazoline derivatives

An efficient and simple copper catalytic system has been developed for the synthesis of medicinally important 2-substituted quinazoline-4(3H)-ones from 2-aminobenzonitrile and benzyl alcohol derivatives and additionally 2-substituted quinazolines from 2-aminobenzylamine and benzaldehyde derivatives. Mild oxidant H2O2 was utilized, providing excellent product yields. The molecular structure of one of the compounds was substantiated through SC-XRD. The versatility of the protocol was demonstrated through gram-scale syntheses.