Knoevenagel condensation of aromatic, aliphatic, and heteroaromatic aldehydes with active methylene compounds such as ethylcyanoacetate, malononitrile, and cyanoacetamide proceed very smoothly at room temperature by simply mixing the ingredients together under solvent-free conditions in the presence of N-methylpiperazine in excellent yields of the E-configured products. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.