An efficient protocol for the synthesis of 2,4,6-triarylpyridines and 3-(2,6-diarylpyridin-4-yl)-1H-indoles by the one-pot pseudo four component condensation reaction of aldehydes with acetophenones and ammonium acetate in the presence of Ph3CCl under neutral and solvent-free conditions has been reported. Mechanistically, it is interesting that trityl chloride by in situ generation of trityl carbocation (Ph3C+) promotes the reaction. In this work, seven products have been reported for the first time. © 2016 Published by NRC Research Press.