Brønsted acidic ionic liquid triethylamine-bonded sulfonic acid {[Et3N-SO3H]Cl} efficiently catalyzes the one-pot multi-component condensation of 2-naphthol with arylaldehydes and dimedone (5,5-dimethylcyclohexane-1,3-dione) under solvent-free conditions to afford 12-aryl-8,9,10,12-tetrahydrobenzo[a]xanthen-11-ones in high yields and relatively short reaction times.
