A mild, one-pot synthesis of disubstituted benzimidazoles from 2-nitroanilines

A one-pot synthesis of disubstituted benzimidazoles from 2-nitroanilines is described. Hydrogenation of N-substituted 2-nitroanilines with palladium on carbon as catalyst in the presence of trimethyl orthoformate and catalytic pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate (PPTS) at room temperature provided good to excellent yields of the corresponding disubstituted benzimidazoles.