Gould Jacobs process

The Gould-Jacobs reaction is a sequence of the following reactions (1) condensation of an arylamine 1 with either alkoxy methylenemalonic ester or acyl malonic ester 2 providing the anilidomethylenemalonic ester 3 (2) cyclization of 3 to the 4-hydroxy-3-carboalkoxyquinoline 4 (3) saponification to form acid 5, and (4) decarboxylation to give the 4-hydroxyquinoline 6. All steps of this process will be described herein with emphasis on the formation of intermediates like 3 and 4. 

The Jacobs-Gould intramolecular cyclization of diethyl N-(6-methyl-2-pyridyl)amino-methylenemalonate to 3-ethoxycarbonyl-7-methyl-l,8-naphthyrid-4-one is another reaction ideally suited to microwave heating, although conductively heated equipment was employed for laboratory-scale experiments [45]. The product is a key intermediate in the synthesis of nalidixic acid, the first of the quinolone antibacterials. The process usually is conducted at temperatures of 200-250 °C and in high dilution, with heat transfer oils such as the eutectic mixture of diphenyl ether and biphenyl. However, it proceeded rapidly, predictably and controllably under solvent-free conditions. 

---