Boron trifluoride diethyl etherate catalyzed cyclotrimerization of enaminones for the synthesis of 1,3,5-Trisubstituted benzenes

The cyclotrimerization reactions of enaminones have been efficiently performed in water in the presence of only a small amount of boron trifluoride diethyl etherate. The reactions led to the green synthesis of a variety of 1,3,5-triacylbenzenes without using any metal as catalyst in good to excellent yields at room temperature.