International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN (Online): 2319-7064 Index Copernicus Value (2013): 6.14 | Impact Factor (2013): 4.438 Volume 4 Issue 6, June 2015 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Comparative Analysis of ZnO Catalyzed Synthesis of β- Acetamido Ketones using Classical & Novel Approaches Shahana Ehsan⃰ 1 , Tahira Saghir 2 , Bushra Khan 3 , Warda Tul Zahra 4 1 ⃰ Department of Chemistry, Lahore College for Women University, Jail Road, Lahore, Pakistan 2, 4 Central Lab., Lahore College for Women University, Jail road Lahore, Pakistan 3 Head of Chemistry Dept., Lahore College for Women University, Jail road, Lahore, Pakistan Abstract: β-acetamido ketones are included in the bioactive class of compounds which have immense versatility and importance in drug chemistry and also act as building blocks in various biological and pharmacological active compounds. This study will report the simple, rapid and efficient one-pot four component synthesis of β –acetamido ketones using benzaldehyde derivatives, acetophenone derivatives, acetyl chloride and acetonitrile as reactive species while ZnO as catalyst. Therapeutic rationale has stimulated the efforts to bring out the methods which consume less time and produce high yield. Various physical properties were studied such as color, appearance and melting point. The remarkable advantages offered by this method are mild reaction conditions, simple procedure, short reaction times and good yield. Keywords: β-acetamido ketones, ZnO, multicomponent reactions, microwave, benzaldehyde 1. Introduction In recent years microwave assisted synthesis has emerged a new tool in organic synthesis. This methodology also considered as important technique in green chemistry too because of it is more environment friendly. The use of microwave irradiations also remove the problems of decomposition of substrate or products during the reaction due to the prolong heating. While using conventional technique of organic synthesis usually require more thermal treatment, deadly apparatus setup, which result in high cost process and excessive use of the solvent that leads to environmental pollution.[1] β- acetamido ketones class comprises ketones with β- position and to these position, acetamide functional groups are attached. β- acetamido ketone β-acetamido ketone is the leading class among the list of the novel hetero compound, that have the center of interest of the researchers. Their biological and pharmaceutical properties reflect their novelty. [2] β-acetamido carbonyl compounds are valuable building blocks for many biological and pharmaceutically important compounds, for example for the preparation of 1, 3-amino alcohols, neopolyoxines and antibiotic nikkomycins. The structural units common in natural nucleoside antibiotics are the molecules, for which the beta acetamidoketoester act as substantial starting materials. So, synthesis of β-acetamido ketones has attracted much consideration in organic synthesis. [2] Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) offer substantial advantages over conventional linear type synthesis and are preferred over other reactions, as they provide useful products in a single step by the creation of several new bonds without separation of any intermediate thus reduce the time and save both energy and the raw material a large number of organic molecules. [3] The present research work was established to fabricate β- acetamido ketones by opting classical method reported in literature along with microwave technique, a novel approach, in order to bring out the better method from the comparison of both approaches. Here in the method, ZnO(an inorganic white powdered compound which is insoluble in water) is used as a catalyst for the reaction. The reported process is advantageous over known methods in terms of short reaction time, ease of reaction protocol and work up. 2. Literature Survey A variety of β-acetamido ketones and keto esters has been prepared via a three component coupling of aromatic aldehydes, enolizable ketones or ketoesters and nitriles by using ZnSO 4 and acetyl chloride for catalytic purpose [4] and another varietyof β-acetamido ketones has been synthesized by employing BF 3 /Et 2 O catalytic process under microwave irradiation [5]. Similarly, fabrication of this important reactive intermediate is also reported in literature by using different catalysts like: heteropolyacid [6], potassium dodecatungstocobaltatetrihydrate (K 5 CoW 12 O 40 .3H 2 O) [7], FeCl 3 .6H 2 O [8], sulfamic acid [9], AgOTf [10], Zr(HSO4) 4 & Mg(HSO4) 4 [11], boric acid[12], CeCl 3 .7H 2 O [13], FePO 4 [14] and many others. Paper ID: SUB155718 3097