Facile synthesis of 2-arylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines catalysed by DBU in aqueous ethanol.

A facile protocol for the synthesis of 2-arylimidazo [1,2-a]pyridines was developed using two-component cyclization of substituted 2-aminopyridines and substituted phenacyl bromides in 65-94% yield. The reaction was DBU catalysed using green solvent, aqueous ethanol (1 : 1 v/v) at room temperature. The atom economy of the products was calculated to be 66.25-73.41%. The developed protocol successfully exhibits a broad substrate scope, less reaction time, high to moderate yield and multigram scale synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]