Iron phthalocyanine as an efficient and versatile catalyst for N-alkylation of heterocyclic amines with alcohols: one-pot synthesis of 2-substituted benzimidazoles, benzothiazoles and benzoxazoles

An efficient and versatile iron phthalocyanine catalyzed method has been developed for N-alkylation of various amines with alcohols. Readily available alcohols were used as alkylating agents for direct N-alkylation of aminobenzothiazoles, aminopyridines and aminopyrimidines. N-Alkylation of ortho-substituted anilines (-NH2, -SH and -OH) led to the synthesis of 2-substituted benzimidazoles, benzothiazoles and benzoxazoles in one pot.