ORIENTAL JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY www.orientjchem.org An International Open Free Access, Peer Reviewed Research Journal ISSN: 0970-020 X CODEN: OJCHEG 2016, Vol. 32, No. (2): Pg. 1261-1264 One Pot Synthesis of Formyl Phenyl Terpyridine: A Simplified Synthesis ANUP GURUNG and SANJAY DAHAL* Department of Chemistry, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Sikkim Manipal University, East Sikkim- 737136, India. *Corresponding author E-mail: dahal.sanjay@smit.smu.edu.in http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/ojc/320253 (Received: February 29, 2016; Accepted: April 02, 2016) ABSTRACT Formyl phenylterpyridinewas synthesized from methyl phenylterpyridine using SeO 2 as the oxidizing agent. SeO 2 conventionally has been used to oxidize allylic and aliphatic methyl groups. The simple conversion of methyl group attached to aromatic ring appended to heterocycle in a clean one pot synthesis paves way for synthesis of similar aldehydes extendable to other classes of compound as well. Keywords: Methyl phenylterpyridine (4-methyl-phenyl-2,2’:6’,2’’-terpyridine), Formylphenylterpyridine(4-formyl-phenyl-2,2’:6’,2’’-terpyridine)”, Oxidation, Selenium dioxide. INTRODUCTION Aldehydes are the versatile reagents in the organic synthesis and especially aromatic aldehydes has been extensively used as a starting reagent for various products through various types of reactions 1-4 .Synthesis of Oximes which are known for their biological activity from aldehydes has been reported in the literature 5 . Recently the synthesis of aryl amines from aldehydes which has pharmaceutical importance has been reported using Zn(BH 4 ) 2 / MgBr 2 6 .Varieties of oxidizing agents are available for oxidation of aliphatic as well as aromatic alkyl groups which gets converted to carboxylic group in majority of the reactions 7 . Mild oxidizing agents has been used to oxidize methyl group to alcohol. Variety of reagents convert methyl group to aldehyde. Methods like Etard reaction, chromyl chloride oxidation and oxidation with PCC involve multistep reactions for conversion 8-11 . Cerium and Iridium catalyzed reaction can oxidize methyl group attached to aromatic group like benzene 12-15 but is not successful in oxidizing methyl groups attached to heterocyclic rings. Selenium dioxide is a versatile reagent for oxidizing methyl groups directly attached to heterocyclic ring like 3-methylbipyridine, 4-methylphenantrholine, 2,5-dimethylpyridine 16 .Heterocyclic aldehydes are best known for their versatility in the synthesis of