An environmentally benign protocol has been described for the synthesis of substituted pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines from 3-formyl chromone and 2-aryl/alkoxycarbonylmethylisoquinolium bromide using basic alumina as solid base in a solvent-free condition under microwave irradiation. All the synthesized compounds have also been screened for their antioxidant activities by DPPH method and were found to be significantly active with respect to Butylatedhydroxytoluene (BHT).