Maltose as an efficient, available, cheap and eco-friendly catalyst has been applied for the synthesis of 3,4,5-substituted furan-2(5H)one derivatives via a one-pot three-component reaction of arylamines, aromatic aldehydes and dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates in water. This method has notable advantages in terms of simple workup, no need for column chromatography, short reaction time and high yields.
