Abstract 1, 2-Diarylimidazoles are an important class of compounds. They are frequently used as ligands for photophysically active metal complexes and also display physiological activity. We developed a new, high-yielding procedure for the synthesis of 1, 2-diaryl- substituted imidazoles with sterically demanding substituents at the respective ortho positions by starting from commercially available anilines and benzoic acids through the ...