N-formylmorpholine as green solvent promoted green synthesis of imidazole derivatives

An efficient synthesis of functionalized imidazoles via a one-pot reaction between ninhydrin, thiourea, acetylenic esters and N-formylmorpholine as green solvent is described. In addition, the power of some prepared compounds as antioxidant was studied using trapping of radical by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reduction activity potential (FRAP) experiment. Some advantages of this procedure are: short time of reaction, high yields of product, easy isolation of products.