Isatin-derived knoevenagel adducts were synthetize by use green protocol.
•
Isatin-derived knoevenagel adducts were synthetize with yields ranging between 72% and 96% in a short-time reaction.
•
The system provides easy isolation of final products by simple filtration.
Abstract
A variety of knoevenagel compounds from isatin were synthesized using an eco-friendly methodology. It was used only the binary solvent ethanol: water (3:7 v/v) without the presence of metal catalyst what enabled the reaction between different isatins with malononitrile in a quick reaction time of 2–5 min and isolated yields 80–96%. When cyanoesters were used as methylene actives, the reactions were longer and the knoenevagel products were obtained 79–92% isolated yields.
