Oxalic acid as an efficient, cheap, and reusable catalyst for the preparation of quinoxalines via condensation of 1,2-diamines with alpha-diketones at room temperature

A simple, highly efficient and green procedure for the condensation of aryl and alkyl 1,2-diamines with alpha-diketones in the presence of catalytic amount of oxalic acid at room temperature is described. Using this method, quinoxaline derivatives as biologically interesting compounds are produced in high to excellent yields and short reaction times.