An expeditious synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines through nucleophile induced ring transformation reactions of 6-aryl-4-methylsulfanyl-2H-pyran-2-one-3-carbonitriles

An efficient and convenient synthesis of 2-(5-aryl-8-nitro-2,3-dihydroimidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-7(1H)-ylidene)acetonitriles (3) and 6-aryl-4-{2-[(E)-nitromethylidene]-1-imidazolidinyl}-2-oxo-2H-pyran-3-carbonitriles (4) through nucleophile induced ring transformation of suitably functionalized 2H-pyran-2-one (1) from imidazoliden-2-ylidene nitromethane is delineated.