Crystalline 4-nitro-1-phenylimidazole, C9H7N3O2, (I), and 4'-nitro-1-phenyl-4,1'-biiimidazole, C12H9N5O2, (II), contain C-H...O and C-H...N hydrogen bonds, connecting the molecules into infinite chains. The aromatic fragments in both compounds are nearly planar. The dihedral angles between the benzene and imidazole rings are 26.78 (5) degrees in (I) and 29.36 (8) degrees in (II).

An efficient one-pot reductive acetylation of aromatic nitro compounds is developed without isolating the intermediate amine. The nitro compound is efficiently reduced by sodium borohydride and catalytic amount of Pd-C in MeOH-water media in presence / absence of alkali, and the amine thus generated is acetylated by acetic anhydride in situ in excellent yields through easy work-up. The techniqu...

Selective and rapid reductLon of nitro compounds is still area of considerable synthetic interestl, particularly when a molecule has several other reducible moieties. Numerous new reagents*-l4 have been developed for reduction of aromatic nitro compounds, however little attention has been paid to the reduction of aliphatic nitro compound&ry,S, which are traditionally reduced by high pressure ca...