Expedient synthesis of substituted imidazoles from nitriles

Expedient and practical new methodology for the synthesis of substituted imidazoles was developed to provide rapid access to a variety of 2-substituted, 1,2-disubstituted and 1,2,4-trisubstituted imidazoles by the direct CuCl-mediated reaction of nitriles with α-amino acetals in an intermolecular as well as intramolecular fashion.