Copper-catalyzed oxidative amination of methanol to access quinazolines.

A novel method for the copper-catalyzed oxidative amination of 2'-aminoarylketones with methanol as a C1 carbon source and ammonium acetate as an amine source to construct quinazolines was established in a one-pot manner. The reaction conditions are straightforward and highly atom economic to deliver the corresponding quinazolines in high yields with wide functional group tolerance. Importantly, the present method is applicable on a multigram scale and its synthetic utility is demonstrated by synthesizing quazodine, a muscle-relaxing drug in high yields.