Аннотация:A facile method for the preparation of meso-1,2-diarylethane-1,2-diamines from aromatic aldehydes is disclosed. The stereoselectivity of the protocol is based on the disrotatory electrocyclic ring closure of readily generated diazapentadienes, followed by a SET reduction of the imidazoline fragment by sodium. The method is readily scalable to multi-gram quantities and a wide range of alkoxy and alkyl-phenyl substituents can be synthesised.