A peculiar vinylation of 1-substituted imidazoles with, α,β-acetylenic γ-hydroxyacid nitriles

1-Substituted imidazoles react smoothly with α,β-acetylenic γ-hydroxyacid nitriles to give 1-imidazolyl-2-alkenenitriles in 37–56% yields, thus representing an unknown type of the imidazole ring vinylation accompanied by the replacement of the substituent at the nitrogen atom.