A mild, general, convenient, and efficient one-pot synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyirdines(1-5) is described using conventional heating, and microwave irradiation(1-5) have been synthesized from ethyl-3-oxo-3-phenylpropanoate, ammonium acetate and respective substituted benzaldehydes catalysed by ZrO2 nanopowder in dry media under microwave irradiation . The structure of the synthesized compounds was characterized by FT-IR, MS, elemental analysis, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectral studies.