α,β-Diarylacrylonitrile derivatives can be prepared by two different routes: (1) the intermolecular condensation of the same arylacetonitriles (2) the condensation of arylaldehydes and arylacetonitriles with a catalytic amount of NaOCH3 at room temperature. Several α,β-diarylacrylonitrile derivatives have been synthesised in this paper and characterised. The UV-vis absorption and photoluminescent (PL)