Synthesis of 3-aroylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines via CuCl2 catalyzed tandem dual carbon–nitrogen bonding

Abstract A novel tandem approach has been demonstrated for the direct synthesis of bioactive 3-aroylimidazo[1,2- a ]pyridines from chalcones and 2-aminopyridines. The reported tandem reaction is atom-economical and expected to proceed via 1,4-Michael addition followed by copper catalyzed oxidative C–N bonding. Catalytic amount of copper was found to be crucial for the success of tandem reaction and it altered the reaction pathway to furnish entirely new products. This protocol proved to be convenient as reaction proceeds smoothly without the necessity of any ligand in the presence of air as oxidant.