A facile approach for the synthesis of 14-aryl- or alkyl-14H-dibenzo[a,j]xanthenes under solvent-free condition

A facile, efficient and environment-friendly protocol for the synthesis of 14-aryl- or alkyl-14H-dibenzo[a,j]xanthenes has been developed by one-pot condensation of 2-naphthol with aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes in the presence of P2O5 or InCl3 as catalysts under solvent-free conditions. The present approach offers the advantages of clean reaction, simple methodology, short reaction time, high yield, easy purification, and economic availability of the catalyst.