Room temperature synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives using reusable cobalt hydroxide (II) and cobalt oxide (II) as efficient solid catalysts

Here we demonstrate the synthesis of benzimidazoles through the coupling of 1,2-phenylenediamine with aldehydes by using Co(OH)₂ and similarly CoO(II) as efficient solid catalysts in ethanol at room temperature. The Co(OH)₂ solid catalyst gave better yields (82-98%) in short reaction times (4-7 h) than CoO(II) catalyst (80-94%, 6-9 h). These commercially available cheap catalysts are more active than many reported expensive heterogeneous catalysts.