Iodine catalyzed four-component reaction: a straightforward one-pot synthesis of functionalized pyrroles under metal-free conditions

An iodine-catalyzed four-component reaction of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, amines, aldehydes and nitroalkanes afforded polysubstituted pyrroles under a metal free condition. Simplicity, low cost and good yields are the key features of this methodology. The mechanism of this four component process is discussed and structural elaboration of one of the compounds synthesized using Suzuki and Sonogashira coupling is presented.