Abstract Herein we have reported a facile solvent-, catalyst-, and aldehyde-free, one-pot synthesis of 3,4-dihydropyridin-2-one from 1,3-diones using simple and mild reaction conditions. The substrate scope has been also extended to β-ketoesters. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Synthetic Communications® for the following free supplemental resource: Full experimental and spectral details.]