Dehydrogenation of Imidazolines to Imidazoles with Pd-Carbon

Abstract
A new and mild method for converting imidazoline derivatives to imidazole derivatives using Pd-C is described. The dehydrogenation of 2-and 2,4-disubstituted imidazolines is carried out in refluxing toluene using Pd-C in good yields. Mixed results are obtained with 4-substituted imidazolines.