A simple, highly efficient and selective oxidative cross coupling of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine (IP) compounds (1) and methylketones (2), promoted by molecular iodine in DMSO in presence of catalytic amount of PTSA have been realized in one pot reaction. This strategy has provided a general route for the synthesis of 1-Aryl-2-(2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl)ethane-1,2-diones 10 (3) with a new C-C bond formation through Kornblum oxidation followed by nucleophilic attack of IP compounds (1) on the insitu formed phenylglyoxal. Simple reaction conditions, no metal catalysts and selective product formation are the advantages of this protocol.This approach not only streamlines the existing synthesis of useful molecular entities, but also contributes to the way chemists 40 think about chemical reactivity and plan the synthesis. Further, functionalization of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines at 2 and 3 position is of very significant as substitution at these positions reported 6 great impact in terms of biological activity. A growing repertoire of C-H bond functionalization reactions have been reported 45 lately, including arylation, alkylation, alkenylation, insertion, amination, oxidation, borylation, and halogenation. 7 Despite significant advances in method development, the application of C-H functionalization for the synthesis of structurally complex molecules remains a formidable challenge to the chemical 50 community. Notably, the development of transition-metal free cross-coupling reactions is a highly topical and significant research area in organic synthesis as the transition metals add additional costs and generate stoichiometric amounts of metal salts as waste. 55 Scheme 1: Previous reports (1a-d) and present work (1e) In this context, a very useful methods have been reported on Suzuki cross-coupling reaction for direct arylation of imidazole heterocycles 8 promoted by Pd(OAc) 2 (Scheme 1a) and recently 60 as a light yellow solid; Yield 75%; m.p. 118-120°C; IR (KBr): 75 3110, 2983, 2861, 1694, 1625, 1229, 778 cm -1 ; 1 H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ 9.81 (d, J = 6.40 Hz, 1H), 7.85 (d, J = 8.85 Hz, 1H), 7.29 (d, J = 7.93 Hz, 2H), 7.66 (t, J = 7.78 Hz, 1H), 7.60 (t, J = 6.71 Hz, 1H), 7.43 (t, J = 7.47 Hz, 2H), 7.23 (t, J = 6.71 Hz, 1H), 6.83 (s, 1H), 6.72 (d, J = 7.78 Hz, 1H), 6.44 (d, J = 7.78 Hz, 80 1H), 5.91 (s,