Facile synthesis of N-alkyl-N′-arylimidazolium salts via addition of imidazoles to arynes

[GRAPHICS] A novel synthetic approach to N-alkyl-N'-arylimidazolium salts has been developed on the basis of addition of imidazoles to arynes. A variety of N-alkyl-N'-arylimidazolium salts can be synthesized straightforwardly in modest to good yields. Furthermore, utility of the resulting imidazolium salts has been demonstrated by the palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl chlorides.