The synthesis of quinolines via denitrogenative palladium-catalyzed cascade reaction of o -aminocinnamonitriles with arylhydrazines.

The first example of the palladium-catalyzed cascade reaction of o -aminocinnamonitriles with arylhydrazines has been achieved, providing an efficient synthetic pathway to access quinolines with moderate to good yields. Preliminary mechanistic experiments indicate that this cascade process involves sequential denitrogenative addition followed by an intramolecular cyclization.