1,2,4,5-Tetrasubstituted-1H-imidazoles are a large family of heteroarene derivatives that are known to include natural products isolated from marine sponges and synthetic compounds possessing a broad range of biological and pharmacological properties. Consequently, a great deal of attention has been given to the synthesis of these heteroarenes and reviews covering some synthetic aspects of this topic have been published in recent years. However, none of these reviews provides a comprehensive overview of the several catalytic methods developed in the literature for the preparation of this important class of heteroarenes. This article review with 469 references, 63% of them being related to the period 2010-2017, aims to provide an updated critical picture of the catalytic processes reported in the literature up to the end of 2017 for the synthesis of 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted-1H-imidazoles illustrating these protocols and their characteristic features such as scope, efficiency, versatility, and limitations. The review also summarizes the mechanisms of the catalytic processes proposed for many of the reported processes.

Condensation in recyclable water between aldehydes or ketones and amines occurs smoothly within the hydrophobic cores of nanomicelles, resulting in imine formation that is subject to subsequent reduction leading, overall, to reductive amination. This micellar technology enables the synthesis of several types of pharmaceuticals, a new procedure that relies on only 2000 ppm (0.20 mol %) palladium from commercially available Pd/C. A broad range of substrates can be used under mild conditions, leading to high chemical yields of the desired secondary and tertiary amines.

An inexpensive and new triphenylphosphine‐based palladacycle has been developed as a pre‐catalyst, leading to highly effective Stille cross‐coupling reactions in water under mild reaction conditions. Only 500–1000 ppm of Pd suffices for couplings involving a variety of aryl/heteroaryl halides with aryl/hetaryl stannanes. Several drug intermediates can be prepared using this catalyst in aqueous nanoreactors formed by 2 wt % Brij‐30 in water.