Multicomponent reactions in PEG-400: ruthenium-catalyzed synthesis of substituted pyrroles

An efficient and eco-friendly method for the synthesis of substituted pyrroles has been developed via ruthenium-catalyzed multicomponent reaction of ketone, amine, and ethylene glycol in PEG-400 as solvent medium without using any external ligand. The catalytic system and solvent can be recycled with the same, as well as different, ketones with minimum loss of Ru-catalyst activity.