A series of tri- and tetra- substituted imidazoles were synthesized from benzyl, aldehyde and ammonium acetate in the presence of zeolite as an ecofriendly reusable catalyst under microwave irradiation in the absence of solvent. The yields are high to excellent and the use of microwave irradiation reduces reaction times to few minute.

The reaction of protected 4,5-diiodoimidazoles with (PhMe2CCH2)2CuLi regioselectively provides 5-cuprated imidazoles, which readily react with various electrophiles furnishing functionalized imidazoles in good yields; remarkably, these resulting mono-iodoimidazoles undergo again an iodine-copper exchange reaction in the presence of sensitive functional groups, like an aldehyde or a ketone.

A novel method for the synthesis of trisubstituted oxazoles via a one-pot oxazole synthesis/Suzuki-Miyaura coupling sequence has been developed. One-pot formation of 5-(triazinyloxy)oxazoles using carboxylic acids, amino acids and a dehydrative condensing reagent, DMT-MM, followed by Ni-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with boronic acids provided the corresponding 2,4,5-trisubstituted oxazoles...