Fig. 3: Substrate scope of furan-thiol-amine (FuTine) multicomponent reaction (MCR) for the synthesis of small N-pyrrole molecules.

a Substrate scope with varying furan and functionalized thiols and amines. The reaction is compatible with varying functional groups such as acids, alcohols, alkynes, amides and esters. The reaction generated good yields of N-pyrrole products with aniline, various amino acids and 1,3-bis(aminomethyl)benzene. b Late-stage modification of N-pyrrole by reaction with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD). c The aromatic N-pyrrole product showed characteristic absorbance at 280 nm in contrast to the starting materials of this MCR (furan, thiol and amine), which show little or no absorbance.