A new series of 3-substituted-9-(1,1′-biphenyl-4-yl)-7-phenyl-7H-pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazolo [4,3-c]pyrimidines and 2-substituted-9-(1,1′-biphenyl-4-yl)-7-phenyl-7H-pyrazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4] triazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidines were synthesised, as a new class of potent xanthine oxidase inhibitors, by oxidative cyclisation of 4-[2-(arylidene)hydrazinyl]-3-(1,1biphenyl-4-yl)-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines with FeCl 3 in ethanol and Dimroth rearrangement.