Concise synthesis of 2-benzazepine derivatives and their biological activity

2-Benzazepines, which are potentially good candidates for new drug therapies to treat skin wounds, were readily prepared from substituted cinnamylamide via an intramolecular Friedel-Crafts reaction. With few steps and effective reactions, the procedure enables a rapid derivatization of 2-benzazepines. Moreover, optically active 4-substituted-2-benzazepines were prepared from chiral α-substituted cinnamylamides, which were readily prepared by asymmetric α-alkylation of chiral cinnamyl oxazolidinone amides. We have easily prepared a library of more than 20 derivatives and examined the biological activity of the compounds.