Ball-Milling-Enabled Zn(OTf) 2 -Catalyzed Friedel-Crafts Hydroxyalkylation of Imidazo[1,2- a ]pyridines and Indoles.

A facile and efficient synthetic method for the construction of C3-hydroxyalkylated imidazo[1,2- a ]pyridines and indoles by a Zn(OTf) 2 -catalyzed Friedel-Crafts hydroxyalkylation of imidazo[1,2- a ]pyridines and indoles with carbonyl compounds under mechanochemical conditions is reported. Good product selectivity, shorter reaction time, ambient reaction temperature, tolerance of a wide range of functional groups, broad substrate scope, moderate to good yield of products, and scalability are the salient features of the developed methodology.