Synthesis of trisubstituted imidazoles by palladium-catalyzed cyclization of O-pentafluorobenzoylamidoximes: application to amino acid mimetics with a C-terminal imidazole.

1-Benzyl-4-methylimidazoles with a range of substituents at the 2-position are prepared from O-pentafluorobenzoylamidoximes on treatment with catalytic amounts of Pd(PPh3)4 and triethylamine. The sequence provides access to optically active amino acid mimetics with a C-terminal imidazole. [structure: see text]