Phosphabarrelene-modified Rh-catalysts: a new and selective route towards hydroxy-functionalized bicyclic imidazoles viatandem reactionsThis article is part of a ChemComm ‘Catalysis in Organic Synthesis’ web-theme issue showcasing high quality research in organic chemistry. Please see our website (http://www.rsc.org/chemcomm/organicwebtheme2009) to access the other papers in this issue.Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: A list of all experimental details. CCDC reference number 736069. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/b911612e

8-Hydroxy-6-methyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydroimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine was formed selectively in high yields from N-(β-methallyl)imidazole by a tandem hydroformylation–cyclization sequence, representing a novel one-pot catalytic synthesis of bicyclic imidazole derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]