Solvent-free Synthesis of 1,8-Dioxo-octahydroxanthenes and Tetra-hydrobenzo[a] xanthene-11-ones over Poly(N,N 0 -dibromo-N-ethylnaphtyl-2,7-sulfonamide) Ardeshir Khazaei , a * Mahshid Rezaei, a Ahmad Reza Moosavi-Zare b * and Shahnaz Saednia a a Faculty of Chemistry, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan 6517838683, Iran b Department of Chemistry, Sayyed Jamaleddin Asadabadi University, Asadabad 6541835583, Iran (Received: March 7, 2017; Accepted: June 21, 2017; DOI: 10.1002/jccs.201700082) In this work, poly(N,N 0 -dibromo-N-ethylnaphtyl-2,7-sulfonamide) (PDNES) as a highly efcient catalyst was applied for the synthesis of 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxanthenes and tetra-hydrobenzo[a] xanthene-11-ones under neutral and solvent-free conditions. Keywords: N-halo reagent; Poly(N,N 0 -dibromo-N-ethylnaphtyl-2,7-sulfonamide); Dimedone; Aldehyde; 2-Naphthol. INTRODUCTION Multicomponent reactions (MCR S ) are those in which three or more compounds are combined together in one step to generate a single product. 1 Some advan- tages of MCRs are their simplicity, atom economy, high yield, and synthetic efciency compared to conven- tional chemical reactions. For this purpose, the design and implement of MCRs is very important in both aca- demic research and industry. 2 Xanthene and benzoxanthene derivatives such as 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxanthenes and tetra-hydrobenzo[a] xanthene-11-ones are one of the most privileged classes of heterocyclic compounds that are widely used in organic synthesis, pharmaceutical and biological research, and industry. 313 For example, they have been applied in the eld of industry as dyes in laser technology, 3 PH-sensitive uorescent materials for visualization of biomolecules, 4 photodynamic therapy, 5 and also as antagonists for the paralyzing action of zoxazolamine 6 and luminescent sen- sors. 7 In the eld of pharmaceutical and biological research, they have been used as antibacterial, 8 antitumor, 9 antiviral, 10 anti-inammatory, 11 and antican- cer agents, as well as novel CCR1 receptor antagonists 12 and as antagonists for drug-resistant leukemia lines. 13 Because of these useful applications and valuable proper- ties, xanthene derivatives synthesis is very important. Some methods have been reported on the synthesis of the xanthene derivatives, which include the synthesis by cyclization of polycyclic aryltiate esters, 14 intramolecular trapping of benzynes by phenols, 15 reac- tion between aryloxy magnesium halides and triethyl orthoformate, 16 and cyclocondensation of 2-hydroxyl aromatic aldehyde with 2-tetralone. 17 Recently, the synthesis of 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxan- thenes was reported by the reaction of 2 equiv of dimedone(5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexane dione) with 1 equiv of various aldehydes in the presence of several catalysts including SbCl 3 /SiO 2, 18 MCM-41-SO 3 H (under ultrasonic irradiation), 19 CAN, 20 polyaniline p-toluenesulfonate, 21 Fe(HSO 4 ) 3, 22 DABCO-bromine, 23 cyanuric chloride, 24 and NaHSO 4 -SiO 2. 18 The most interesting protocol for the synthesis of tetra-hydrobenzo[a]xanthene-11-one is the condensation reaction between β-naphthol, arylaldehydes, and dime- done using various catalysts such as NaHSO 4 /the ionic liquid ([bmim] BF 4 ), 25 InCl 3 /P 2 O 5, 26 perchloric acid adsorbed on silica gel, 27 Zr(HSO 4 ), 28 strontium triate, 29 RuCl 4, 30 p-TSA, 31 and TrCl. 32 However, some of these methods suffer from drawbacks such as low product yields, long reaction times, harsh reaction conditions, and the use of toxic and expensive catalysts. With these issues in mind, we report a highly efcient method for the synthesis of 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxanthenes and tetra-hydrobenzo[a]xanthene-11-ones using poly (N, N 0 -dibromo-N-ethylnaphtyl-2,7-sulfonamide) (PDNES) 44 benzaldehyde as a reusable, high stable, a rich source of Br + , and an efcient catalyst under solvent-free conditions (Schemes1and2). *Corresponding author. Email: Khazaei_1326@yahoo.com; moosavizare@yahoo.com J. Chin. Chem. Soc. 2017 1 © 2017 The Chemical Society Located in Taipei & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim JOURNAL OF THE CHINESE CHEMICAL SOCIETY Article