‘On-water’ one-pot pseudo four-component domino protocol for the synthesis of novel benzo[a]cyclooctenes

An environmentally benign ‘on-water’ pseudo four-component, domino protocol for the synthesis of novel benzo[a]cyclooctenes is reported. The reaction presumably occurs via a domino Knoevenagel condensation–Michael addition–Thorpe–Ziegler cyclization–tautomerization–elimination sequence of reactions.