“…18 A variety of catalysts such as hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid, p-toluenesulphonic acid, acetic acid, trimethylsilyltrifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSTf), montmorillonite clay K10 under microwave irradiation or ultrasound, NaAuCl 4 Á2H 2 O, iodine, aluminum oxide, silica gel, cerium trichloride, natural clays and InBr 3 have been employed to effect this transformation. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Recently these compounds have been prepared by direct condensation of b-dicarbonyl compounds and primary amines in water solvent. 27 However these methods suffer from one or more drawbacks, such as the use of expensive or less readily available reagents and bases, vigorous reaction conditions, longer reaction times, unsatisfactory yields, low selectivity or the use of toxic solvents, which limit these methods to small scale synthesis.…”