The synthesis of (Z)-4-(4-nitrobenzylidene)-2-phenyloxazol-5(4H)-one, which is a potent immunomodulator and tyrosinase inhibitor, is described as an experiment for an upper-division undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory course. This compound is produced via an Erlenmeyer−Plochl reaction in the absence of any additional solvents and is isolated without need of preparative chromatography, yielding up to 97% of product.