Nucleophilic substitution of hydrogen in nitro derivative of imidazo[1,2‐a]pyridine has been used as a key step in the one‐pot synthesis of a new highly fluorescent heterocyclic system pyrido [1″,2″:1′,2′]imidazo[4′,5′:5,6]pyrido[2,3‐b]indole. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2012).