A Novel Gateway to InCl 3 catalyzed N ‐Formylation of Amines: An Access to 2‐unsubstituted, N ‐unsubstituted Benzimidazoles

Abstract This article deals with a simple indium(III) chloride catalysed procedure in acetonitrile under mild condition for N ‐formylation for a wide variety of amines. The reaction condition was extended to the chemoselective N ‐formylation of amino groups as well. Using o ‐phenylenediamines in place of mono‐amines, unsubstituted 1 H ‐benzimidazoles could also be accessed.