An atom-economic and efficient approach to the synthesis of 2-arylquinolines has been developed. The protocol involves an iron-catalysed cascade N-alkylation/aerobic oxidation/Povarov reaction, and the desired quinolines were prepared in moderate to excellent yields from readily accessible anilines, aldehydes, and EtOH/nPrOH, with water as the only side-product. The aniline substrates also act as a recyclable transfer medium for EtOH/nPrOH through an in-situ N-alkylation/oxidation process. This makes EtOH/nPrOH an economical and environmentally friendly precursor of alkenes as well as the solvent.