Cobalt-Catalyzed Tandem Transformation of 2-Aminobenzonitriles to Quinazolinones Using Hydration and Dehydrogenative Coupling Strategy.

A tandem synthesis of quinazolinones from 2-aminobenzonitriles is demonstrated here by using an aliphatic alcohol-water system. For this transformation, a cheap and easily available cobalt salt and P(CH2CH2PPh2)3 (PP3) ligand were employed. The substrate scope, scalability, and synthesis of natural products exhibited the vitality of this protocol.