A rapid route was developed to afford ethynyl-substituted imidazole derivat
ives which served as key compounds for aryl-alkynyl-coupling reactions. Add
ition of mono-silylated acetylene to O-protected oximes was carried out in
the absence of Lewis acids, directly affording the title compounds 3a-c in
a one-pot reaction. Limitations and dependence of the feasibility on N-1-su
bstituents are discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve
d.