CeCl3·7H2O-Catalyzed Synthesis of Quinoxaline Derivatives in Liquid PEG-400

Phenacyl bromides (II) possessing electron-donating and -withdrawing substituents on the aromatic ring react with o-phenylenediamine (I) in an alternative reaction medium in the presence of cerium chloride heptahydrate as a novel catalyst to afford the 2-aryl-substituted quinoxalines (III) and (V) in very good yields.