Abstract
A series of 4‐arylidene‐2‐phenyl‐5(4)‐oxazolones were synthesized from cyclodehydration–condensation of hippuric acid, aromatic aldehydes, and acetic anhydride catalyzed by ytterbium(III) triflate under mild conditions in excellent yields.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the National Basic Research Program (No. 2003CB114402) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 20276072 and 20476098) for financial support.