Regioselective synthesis of 1,5-diaryl-1H-imidazoles by palladium-catalyzed direct arylation of 1-aryl-1H-imidazoles

A variety of 1,5-diaryl-1H-imidazoles have been regioselectively synthesized by direct coupling of 1-aryl-1H-imidazoles with aryl iodides or bromides in DMF in the presence of CsF as the base and a catalyst precursor consisting of a mixture of Pd(OAc)2 and AsPh3. The data obtained in this synthetic study support a reaction mechanism involving an electrophilic attack of an arylpalladium- (II) halide species onto the imidazole ring. Interestingly, some imidazole derivatives synthesized in this study have been found to exhibit significant cytotoxic activity against human tumor cell lines.