A simple and facile strategy for the synthesis of highly substituted imidazoles has been developed by multi-component condensation of 1,2-diketone, aldehyde, amine, and ammonium acetate in presence of tetrabutyl ammonium bromide as catalyst.
novel, highly efficient, and one-pot microwave-assisted synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstitutedimidazoles using a newly developed Schiff’s base complex nickel catalyst (Ni-C) is described. The approach involves the reaction of various aldehydes with benzil and ammonium acetate in the presence of the Ni-C catalyst to furnish cyclized products in excellent yields. The Ni-C catalyst exhibited remarkable catalytic