A Facile and Green Approach for the One‐Pot Multicomponent Synthesis of 2,4,5‐Triaryl‐ and 1,2,4,5‐Tetraarylimidazoles by Using Zinc‐Proline Hybrid Material as a Catalyst

Abstract

Abstract A concise, green, highly versatile and selective one‐pot synthesis of 2,4,5‐triarylimidazoles and 1,2,4,5‐tetraarylimidazoles is reported in this paper. This methodology involves the condensation of bezil or benzoin with various aldehydes and ammonium acetate or aromatic amines in water : ethanol (4:1) mixture containing zinc‐proline hybrid material (ZnPHM) as catalyst to afford various triaryl and tetraarylimidazoles. The facile and mild protocol eliminates the use of expensive and corrosive reagents, toxic solvents and ensures operational simplicity with easy workup. The prominent features of this protocol are avoidance of harsh reaction conditions, recyclability of the catalyst and excellent yields of the desired products after simple crystallization.