Surfactant‐Assisted Cascade Synthesis of Tetrahydroquinoline Cyanocarboxamides Through Intramolecular Hydride‐Transfer Cyclization in Aqueous CTAB Media

An efficient intramolecular hydride-transfer cyclization process in aqueous CTAB media for the reaction of ortho-aminobenzaldehydes with active methylene cyanoacetamide compounds enabling the synthesis of diverse tetrahydroquinoline cyanocarboxamide derivatives has been achieved. The method offers good yields and diastereoselectivity, operational simplicity, large-scale synthesis, high atom- and step-economy, and excellent functional group tolerance. Further, this methodology works well with glycine, malononitrile, ethyl cyanoacetate, and barbituric acid as active methylene compounds.