The amidoamines (S)-Ar1CONHCHRCH2NHAr2 [Ar1 = o-C6H4SO3H, R = Bn, iBu, iPr; Ar2 = 2,6-iPr2C6H4, 2,6-Et2C6H4, 2,4,6-Me3C6H2] cyclise to (S) 1-aryl-substituted 4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazolinium species with HC(OEt)3 in moderate-to-excellent yields on heating to 150–175 °C (nine examples, four isolated yields of 48 to >97 %). They are attained as their o-C6H4(SO3–)(CO2Et) salts. The latter are readily deprotonated to afford analytically pure (S) 1-aryl-substituted 4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazoles (imidazolines). The purification of the intermediate sulfonate salts is not always necessary, and analytically pure imidazolines are isolated by simple kugelrohr distillation (nine examples, 45–95 %) after basification. Imidazoline alkylation provides a library of (S)-N-alkylimidazolinium salts (23 examples, 74–97 %). As the initially required amidoamines are available in simple one-pot reactions, the overall approach constitutes a rather efficient approach to this useful family of chiral N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand precursors (effectively three steps from commercial N-Boc-α-amino alcohols; BOC = tert-butyloxycarbonyl).