Iodine Catalyzed Highly Efficient One Pot Three Component Synthesis of 4-arylidene-3-methylisoxazol-5 (4H) -one in Aqueous Medium

An efficient one-pot three-component reaction of ethyl acetoacetate with hydroxylamine hydrochloride and various aromatic aldehydes containing an electron donating group, was carried out. The current protocol gives diverse 4-arylidene-3-methylisoxazol-5 (4H) -ones providing good to excellent yield of products in an aqueous medium using iodine as a catalyst. This particular cyclocondensation reaction was performed in water, which is an environmentally benign universal solvent having unique properties being clean, efficient, inexpensive, and readily available.