A copper (II)-catalyzed, sequential Michael addition-aldol condensation reaction of N- carboxybenzyl-protected aminobenzaldehyde with various α, β-unsaturated N-acyl pyrroles is described. Substrate scope was found to include both aryl and aliphatic N-acyl pyrroles as the Michael acceptors, and isolated product yields as high as 93% were observed. The use of acetonitrile as the reaction solvent proved to be crucial for catalysis, both to function as ...
