Aliphatic Alcohol Hydroxyl‐Directed One‐Pot Stepwise Synthesis: A Concise Synthesis of 1H‐pyrrolo[3,4‐b]quinoline‐1,3(2H)‐diones

A concise and flexible protocol to assemble structurally diverse 1H‐pyrrolo[3,4‐b]quinoline‐1,3(2H)‐diones (29 examples, 70–87% yields) has been developed via one‐pot stepwise synthesis. The potentially valuable quinine‐fused heterocycles were synthetized by utilizing aliphatic alcohol hydroxyl as directing group which promoted a sequential transformation to form functionalized aminomaleimides, and then underwent an I2‐oxidized tandem annulations. This route involved the formation of multiple new chemical bonds (C=N, 2C−N, C−C) in a one‐pot fashion under mild conditions.