Title:Using Supercritical Diethyl Ether as the Reaction Medium for the Synthesis of
3-Acetyl and 4-Methyl Substituted Coumarins
Volume: 28
Issue: 10
Author(s): Zeynep Özsırkıntı, Abdul Hakim Hakimi, Mehmet Erşatır, Murat Türk, Onur Demirkol and Elife Sultan Giray*
Affiliation:
- Department of Chemistry, Arts and Science Faculty, Çukurova University, Adana, 01330, Turkey
Keywords:
Supercritical diethyl ether, coumarins, ionic liquids, acetylcholinesterase, anti-microbial, anti-fungal.
Abstract: Due to very good biological activity and use as fluorescent probes, coumarin
synthesis and developing new synthesis methods are still an attractive area for many research
groups. In this work, for the first time, a novel, mild, and green method has been
developed for coumarin synthesis by using supercritical diethyl ether as a reaction medium.
The optimum conditions for the synthesis of 3-acetylcoumarins and 4-methylcoumarins
have been explored. These newly established techniques could be a favourable approach
against two traditional synthetic routes in terms of green chemistry criteria for the synthesis
of important intermediates, 3-acetyl coumarins and 4-methyl coumarins. 4-Methyl coumarins
have been obtained in good-to-excellent yields (63-87%); for example, bmethylumbelliferone,
a naturally bioactive coumarin compound, was synthesised in 30 min
at 200oC, resulting in 87% yield, while several 3-acetyl coumarins were synthesized in very good yields (28-
96%).
