Easy α- to β-migration of an enol moiety on a pyrrole ring

Functionalized pyrrolic enols, 2-(2,2-dicyano-1-hydroxyethenyl)-1-methylpyrroles, synthesized from 2-ethenylpyrroles by a nucleophilic SEt-OH exchange, upon heating (75-142 °C) are readily rearranged to their 3-isomers in near to quantitative yield. The inter or intramolecular auto-protonation of a pyrrole ring by the acidic enol hydroxyl to form a mesomeric pyrrolium cation or zwitterion is suggested to be a key step in the rearrangement.