Base-Catalyzed Aqueous Methylenation of Imidazo[1,2-

An efficient base-catalyzed method for the methylenation of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines using glyoxylic acid was discovered. Various imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines were successfully converted to bis(imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl)methanes in aqueous media. In addition, this strategy was extended to coupling imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines with other nucleophiles via methylene groups, yielding various substituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines. Biological activity experiments revealed that some of these compounds exhibit antiproliferative activity in cancer cell lines, as assessed using an MTT assay.