“…Initially, when the procedure was carried out in the absence of a catalyst, the products were produced with poor yields after 2–3 h. Also, addition of 0.2 mmol imidazole resulted in low product yields, and increasing the catalytic amount of imidazole to 0.5 mmol provided 4-dicyanomethylene-2-pyrazoline-5-one derivatives ( 14a–d ) in good yields; however, increasing the catalytic amount further did not boost product yields. The solvent effect on the preparation of ( 14a–d ) is initially investigated via the treatment of 2-pyrazoline-5-one derivatives ( 6a–d ), TCE ( 7 ), and 0.5 mmol imidazole in various solvents such as water, acetonitrile, ethanol, methanol, tetrahydrofuran, and dioxane. − However, water afforded higher yields than their other counterparts. 14a–d were elucidated via comparison with reported data by conventionally known methods. ,,, …”