Exocyclic N-Acyliminium Ion (NAI) Cyclization: Access to Fully Substituted Oxazoles and Furocoumarins.

A concise, one-pot route to oxazoles and furocoumarins has been reported. The key step in this transformation involves in situ generation of N-acyliminium ion (NAI) precursor under catalyst and solvent-free conditions and their further transformations promoted by superacid in the same pot. We have also presented the experimental evidence for the involvement of proto-solvated novel exocyclic N-acyliminium ion. Further, the UV-visible and fluorescence studies revealed that few of the compounds reported here exhibited emission of blue light upon irradiation in EtOH in the region of 404-422 nm.