Room Temperature N-Arylation of 1,2,4-Triazoles under Ligand-Free Condition

A simple and efficient method for N-arylation of 1,2,4-triazole at room temperature was described by the use of predominant (111) facet CuO nanoparticles as a catalyst in ligand-free condition. The catalyst was recyclable, and a variety of substrates give N-arylation product in high yield with short period of reaction time. The wide scope of this catalyst led us to investigate transformations involving less-reactive nitrogen nucleophiles, such as imidazole and pyrazoles. We were pleased to find that various derivatives of azoles were effectively coupled with aryl iodide to afford the desired N-arylated product in excellent yield.