General procedure for the synthesis of 1-phenyl-1H-imidazole-4-carboxylic acid from methyl 1-phenyl-1H-imidazole-4-carboxylate: LiOH-H2O (143 mg, 3.4 mmol) was added to a stirred methyl 1-phenyl-1H-imidazole-4-carboxylic acid (231 mg, 1.1 mmol) solution in a mixture of THF (3 mL), MeOH (1 mL), and H2O ( 1 mL) in mixed solvents and continued stirring for 3 hours at room temperature. After completion of the reaction, the reaction mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure. Subsequently, cold water was added and acidified with 10% aqueous HCl and the precipitated solid was collected to give 180 mg (83.7% yield) of 1-phenyl-1H-imidazole-4-carboxylic acid.
