A facile and effective synthesis for a wide variety of 4-arylidene-5-imidazolinone derivatives was developed. 4-Arylidene-5-oxazolinones were prepared by Erlenmeyer azlactone synthesis from N-acylglycines and arylaldehydes. The ring-opening reactions of the 4-arylidene-5-oxazolinones with primary amines afforded 2-acylamino-3-arylacrylamides in excellent yields. A new dehydrative cyclization of the