An Efficient One‐pot Synthesis of β‐Amino/β‐Acetamido Carbonyl Compounds via ZrCl4‐catalyzed Mannich‐type Reactio

Zirconium(IV) chloride catalyzed efficient one‐pot synthesis of β‐amino/β‐acetamido carbonyl compounds at room temperature is described. In the presence of ZrCl4, the three‐component Mannich‐type reaction via a variety of in situ generated aldimines, with various ketones, aromatic aldehydes and aromatic amines in ethanol, led to the formation of β‐amino carbonyl compounds and the four‐component Mannich‐type reaction of aromatic aldehydes with various ketones, acetonitrile and acetyl chloride resulted in the corresponding β‐acetamido carbonyl compounds in high to excellent yields. This methodology has also been applied towards the synthesis of dimeric β‐amino/β‐acetamido carbonyl compounds.