A streamlined synthetic methodology towards novel tetracyclic 1,4-oxazepines from readily available precursors is described. The compounds, designed as more soluble version of the earlier described, poorly soluble dibenzo[bf][1,4]oxazepines, were obtained in high yields and as a single regioisomer as a result of three tandem chemical events-nucleophilic aromatic substitution, Smiles rearrangement and denitrocyclization. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.