Reactions of N-alkyl-N-phenyl-1H-benzotriazole-1-methanamines 1 with N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone and with N-vinyl-N-methylacetamide give 4-(2-pyrrolidinon-1-yl)- and 4-(N-methylacetamido-N-yl)-1,2,3 ,4-tetrahydroquinolines (5 and 32), respectively. In a reaction with N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone, alpha-alkyl (11) and alpha-aryl(18) derivatives of 1 stereoselectively give cis-2,4-disubstituted tetrahydroquinolines 16 and 21, respectively. The 2-pyrrolidinon-1-yl and acetamido-N-yl substituents in the products are reduced with lithium aluminum hydride to the corresponding amino groups. Similar reactions of N-phenyl-1H-benzotriazole-1-methanamines 1 with 9-vinylcarbazole (40) lead to the corresponding 4-(carbazol-9-yl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines (41 and 42) and/or analogous 4-(benzotriazol-1-yl) or 4-(benzotriazol-2-yl) derivatives (37, 38, 43, and 44), depending on the nature of the starting material and the reaction conditions. By commencing with aniline derivatives in which the nitrogen atom is built into a heterocyclic system, this method allows for the addition of a another ring to the system, as exemplified by the conversion of phenothiazine into 46 and [3,1]benzoxazine into 49, 52, and 53.
