An elegant protocol for the synthesis of N-substituted pyrroles through C-N cross coupling/aromatization process using CuFe2O4 nanoparticles as catalyst under ligand-free conditions

A simple and efficient, ligand-free C-N cross-coupling of aryl halides/benzyl bromides with trans-4-hydroxy-l-proline to produce an aromatized N-substituted pyrrole has been developed using a catalytic amount of magnetically separable CuFe2O4 nanoparticles as a recyclable catalyst with Cs2CO3 as a base in DMSO at 100 °C. In this novel protocol five membered unsaturated heterocyclic derivatives are subjected to oxidative aromatization to produce a variety of N-substituted pyrroles, in good to excellent yields, utilizing inexpensive, magnetically separable, and recyclable CuFe2O4 nanoparticles.