Selenium-Catalyzed Carbonylative Synthesis of 3,4-Dihydroquinazolin-2(1)-one Derivatives with TFBen as the CO Source.

An efficient and general carbonylative procedure for the synthesis of 3,4-dihydroquinazolin-2(1)-one from 1-(halomethyl)-2-nitrobenzenes and aryl/alkyl amines have been explored. In this approach, to avoid of using toxic CO gas, a solid and stable CO precursor, TFBen (benzene-1,3,5-triyl triformate), was utilized. With elemental selenium as the catalyst, a variety of aryl/alkyl amines has been tolerated well to afford the corresponding 3,4-dihydroquinazolin-2(1)-one products in moderate to excellent yields under mild reaction condition.