A diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) of two new polyheterocyclic compounds was performed via an Ugi-Zhu/cascade (N-acylation/aza Diels-Alder cycloaddition/decarboxylation/dehydration)/click strategy, both step-by-step to optimize all involved experimental stages, and in one pot manner to evaluate the scope and sustainability of this polyheterocyclic-focused synthetic strategy. In both ways, the yields were excellent, considering the high number of bonds formed with release of only one carbon dioxide and two molecules of water. The Ugi-Zhu reaction was carried out using the 4-formylbenzonitrile as orthogonal reagent, where the formyl group was first transformed into the pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyridin-5-one core, and then the remaining nitrile group was further converted into two different nitrogen-containing polyheterocycles, both via click-type cycloadditions. The first one used sodium azide to obtain the corresponding 5-substituted-1H-tetrazolyl-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyridin-5-one, and the second one with dicyandiamide to synthesize the 2,4-diamino-1,3,5-triazine-pyrrolo[3,4-b]pyridin-5-one. Both synthesized compounds may be used for further in vitro and in silico studies because they contain more than two heterocyclic moieties of high interest in medicinal chemistry, as well as in optics due to their high π-conjugation.

The new bis-heterocyclic compound ferrocenyl-bis-(1-(4-benzyl-5-morpholinooxazol-2-yl)-N-(4-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl)methanamine) (1) was synthesized in 73% overall yield in 1.5 hours via a pseudo-repetitive Ugi-Zhu five-component reaction, starting from 1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxaldehyde, 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzylamine, and 2-isocyano-1-morpholino-3-phenylpropan-1-one, in 1:2.1:2.2 proportions, respectively, using scandium(III) triflate as a Lewis-acid catalyst, microwaves as a heat source, and toluene as a solvent. The synthesized compound was characterized by 1D (¹H, ¹³C, and ¹⁹F) and 2D (COSY, HSQC, and HMBC) NMR, HRMS, and FT-IR.