Synthesis of Aminonaphthopyranones and Aminonaphthochromenones by Blaise‐Reaction‐Initiated Cascade Procedures

An efficient one‐pot synthesis of aminonaphthopyranones through the tandem reaction of 2‐(4‐hydroxybut‐1‐ynyl)benzonitriles with Reformatsky reagents has been developed. Using a similar strategy, aminonaphthochromenones were obtained smoothly starting from 2‐[(2‐hydroxyphenyl)ethynyl]benzonitriles. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the versatile reactivity of the amino group, structural manipulations of aminonaphthopyranone were readily undertaken to give naphthopyranone, 10‐hydroxynaphthopyranone and a functionalized 1,1′‐binaphthyl of potential interest for synthetic and medicinal chemistry studies.