Alumina-Supported Gold Nanoparticles as a Bifunctional Catalyst for the Synthesis of 2-Amino-3-arylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridines

[Image: see text] The bifunctional catalytic efficacy of alumina-supported gold nanoparticles (Au/Al(2)O(3)) was investigated for the synthesis of a series of 2-amino-3-aryl-imidazopyridines through the chemoselective reduction of the corresponding 2-nitro-3-aryl-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines in high isolated yields. This highly efficient protocol was initially applied for the synthesis of 2-nitro-3-aryl imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines via the reaction between 2-aminopyridine and nitroalkenes catalyzed by the present catalytic system Au/Al(2)O(3). Moreover, the heterogeneous surface γ-Al(2)O(3) was also found to catalyze this pathway in a comparable manner. However, only Au/Al(2)O(3) was further proved as the appropriate catalytic system for the selective transfer hydrogenation of the synthesized 2-nitro imidazopyridine derivatives into the corresponding 2-amino-3-aryl imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines using NaBH(4) as a hydrogen-donor molecule. In addition, the one-pot two-step reaction between nitroalkenes and aminopyridines in the presence of Au/Al(2)O(3)–NaBH(4) provided directly the fast and facile synthesis of 2-amino-3-aryl imidazopyridines, highlighting a useful synthetic application of the catalytic protocol.