Gold-catalyzed cyclization of alkynylaziridines as an efficient approach toward functionalized N-phth pyrroles.

An efficient access to N-phth pyrrroles via gold-catalyzed cycloisomerization of N-phth alkynylaziridines has been described. Functionalized pyrroles including pyrrole-2-carboxylates or 2-pyrrolyl ketone are easily constructed in generally good yields by this method. The resulting pyrroles can be further converted to N-amino pyrrole or 2-acyl pyrrole, which are important synthetic intermediates for amplification of molecular complexity.