Keywords: benzimidazo[1,2-b]isoquinoline, 2-(bromomethyl)benzoate, 2-(bromomethyl)benzonitrile, imidazo [1,2-b]isoquinoline, cyclization.Construction of an isoquinoline fragment for the synthesis of condensed derivatives of 3-aminoisoquinoline as a method of forming the tricyclic azolo[b]isoquinoline system is rarely used [2, 3]. Among the known methods of constructing these heterosystems in only two variants the key stage of cyclization is the formation of the C(3)-C(4) bond of the isoquinoline ring. One of them consists of the condensation of phthaloyl dichloride with benzimidazole in the presence of base [4], and the second, a more general method developed by us, is based on the cyclization of quaternary azolium salts formed on interacting o-bromomethyl-benzophenones with 1,3-diazoles [5]. The present work, in the indicated scheme of synthesis of azolo-[b]isoquinolines, uses derivatives of o-toluic acid, viz. 2-(chloromethyl)benzonitrile (1b), 2-(bromomethyl)-benzonitrile (1a), and methyl 2-(bromomethyl)benzoate (8). The latter is frequently used in various hetero-cyclizations, including those for obtaining isoquinoline derivatives [6-9], while nitriles 1a,b are rarely used for this purpose and the schemes for converting them are more complex [10][11][12][13]. The relatively simple method of synthesis of azolo [b]isoquinolines proposed by us enables the preparation of their previously unavailable amino and hydroxy derivatives.On interacting halo nitriles 1a,b with 1-alkyl-1H-imidazoles, 1-alkyl-1H-benzimidazoles, or 1-methyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole, quaternary azolium salts 2a-e, 3a,b, and 4 were formed respectively. Salts 2a-c were obtained in high yield (Table 1) on moderate heating (to 50 o C) of the reactants in acetonitrile.