Facile Procedure for the Synthesis of 3-Acetyl-9-ethylcarbazole and Corresponding Functionalized Bis-β-diketone Compounds

Abstract

Acetylation-substituted N-ethylcarbazole at the 3-position was synthesized in 80% yield using ZnCl₂ as catalyst, and its corresponding functionalized bis-β-diketone compounds 2a and 2b were prepared by Claisen condensation with acceptable yields. Lanthanide complexes with the two compounds could be used as potential luminescent materials.

Keywords:

• Bis-β-diketone
• carbazole
• Claisen condensation
• Friedel–Crafts acetylation

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge financial support of this work by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 20080431027) and the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Central South University.

Notes

^a Molar amount ratio of catalyst and N-ethylcarbazole.

^b The yield is based on isolation by column chromatography, and 3-acetyl-9-ethylcarbazole was characterized by FT-IR and ¹H NMR.

^c Yield reported in the literature.^{[ 7a ]}