A simple and an expedient process to prepare 5-aryl-1-benzyl-1H-imidazole-4-carboxamides by the aminocarbonylation of 5-aryl-4-iodo-1H-imidazoles using ex situ generation of CO from Mo(CO)6 with an amino acid amide nucleophile is reported. Furthermore, a microwave-assisted protocol for the direct C-5 arylation of 1-benzyl-1H-imidazole and a regioselective C-4 iodination method to acquire starting material for our aminocarbonylation are presented. The method can be used to prepare imidazole based peptidomimetics, herein exemplified by the synthesis of constrained H-Phe-Phe-NH2 analogues.