ASIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY ASIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY http://dx.doi.org/10.14233/ajchem.2015.18324 INTRODUCTION The β-enamino esters are useful synthones for the synthesis of various pharmaceuticals 1 and bioactive heterocycles 2,3 such as 1,4-dihydropyridines 4 pyrazoles, oxazoles, quinolines, dibenzo- diazepines, tetrahydrobenzoxazines, tetronic acids and tetra- hydro phenanthridines 5 . They have been utilized for the prepa- ration of different important antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant and antitumour agents 6 . Moreover, they are useful intermediates for the preparation of α,β-aminoacids 7 , azocompounds 8 and alkaloids 9 . Given their importance in the field of chemical synthesis, research continues to grow to develop a variety of more effective methods in terms of reduction of time, yield and selectivity. Different synthetic ways are used, we can cite as examples: (1) The condensation of β-keto esters with amines in the presence of catalysts, such as: NaAu-ClO4·2H2O 10 ; Bi(TFA)3 11 ; Zn(ClO4)2·6H2O 12 ; CeCl3·7H2O 13 ; SiO2/HClO4 14 ; (AlPO4) 15 ; (2) Addition of amines to alkylpropiolates or dialkylacetylendi- carboxylates a solvent-free 16 ; (3) Hydroamidation of electron- deficient terminal alkynes by amides in the presence of a Pd- catalyst 17 ; (4) Addition of anilines to alkyl-propiolates in the presence of catalyzed by Au(I) 18 ; AgNTf2 19 ; (5) Treatment of aliphatic or aromatic nitriles with an excess of α-bromo esters in the presence of activated zinc dust 20 ; (6) Reaction of aryl nitriles with potassium ethyl malonate in the presence of zinc chloride 21 ; (Scheme-I). A Simple and Fast Synthetic Pathway of β-Enamino-Esters by Condensation of β-Keto Ester with Aliphatic and Aromatic Amines in Ethanol Y. KOUADRI 1,2,* , M.R. OUAHRANI 1,2 , B.E. MISSAOUI 1,2 , F. CHEBROUK 3 and N. GHERRAF 4 1 Laboratoire de Chimie Organique, Université KASDI Merbah, Ouargla, Algéria 2 Laboratoire VPRS Université KASDI Merbah, Ouargla, Algéria 3 Centre de Recherche Scientifique et Technique en Analyses Physico-Chimiques (CRAPC), BP 248, Alger 16004, Algéria 4 Laboratoire des Ressources Naturelles et Aménagement des Milieux Sensibles, Université Larbi ben M'hidi, Oum Elbouaghi, Algeria *Corresponding authors: Fax: +213 32424213; Tel: +213 559103485; E-mail: hadadberini@yahoo.com; ngherraf@yahoo.com Received: 14 June 2014; Accepted: 14 October 2014; Published online: 30 March 2015; AJC-17082 The β-keto ester undergoes condensation reactions with aliphatic and aromatic amines in ethanol to give high-yielding β-enamino ester. The method is simple, cost-effective and environmentally benign. Structural characterization of the synthesized compounds was carried out by spectroscopic methods ( 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR and DEPT). Keywords: β-Keto esters, β-Enamin oesters. However, these methods suffer from one or more drawbacks such as the use of expensive or less readily available reagents, vigorous reaction conditions, longer reaction times, unsatis- factory yields, low selectivity or the use of toxic solvents that limit these methods to small scale synthesis. Due to the importance of these compounds in organic synthesis, the development of facile and efficient synthetic methods to the β-enamino esters is of prime necessity. It invol- ves the condensation of amines on β-keto esters (Scheme-II). EXPERIMENTAL 1 H, 13 C, DEPT spectra were recorded on a Bruker Avance 300. Chemical shifts are given in parts per million (ppm) with respect to internal TMS for all recorded NMR spectra and J values are quoted in hertz (Hz). The nuclear magnetic resonances were recorded on a Bruker AC-300 device. General procedure Operating mode of β-keto esters with aliphatic primary amines: In a three-necked 100 mL flask equipped with a magnetic stirrer with heating and cooling, the β-keto ester (1 eq) was placed in 10 mL of ethanol and then we add an equivalent of primary amine in 10 mL of EtOH. The mixture is subjected to stirring and heated under reflux. The reaction was followed by thin layer chromatography TLC. The solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure. Ethyl 2-(allylamino)cyclohex-1-ene carboxylate (1): Yield: 82 %; 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) δ ppm: 1.20 (t, J = 7 Hz, 3H, Asian Journal of Chemistry; Vol. 27, No. 7 (2015), 2575-2578