Application of recyclable base-washed graphene oxide for one-pot conversion of 2-aminopyridines into 5-iodo-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines at room temperature in water

A green synthetic protocol for cyclization of 2-aminopyridines with 2-bromoacetophenones to prepare imidazo [1,2-a]pyridines, followed by its successive iodination in one-pot manner, employing base-washed graphene oxide as the catalyst, in water has been described herewith. The current approach has offered us to carry out the reaction in water medium at room temperature and the base-washed graphene oxide catalyst has provided excellent product yield (upto 81%) and can also be recycled effortlessly upto 5 catalytic cycles, through a simple base-wash protocol. The catalyst is an inexpensive, environmentally benign, green, heterogeneous platform and has been characterised by IR, Raman, SEM and TEM studies.