Water promoted C-C bond cleavage: facile synthesis of 3,3-bipyrrole derivatives from dienones and tosylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC).

A simple and highly efficient synthetic strategy to access 3,3-bipyrrole derivatives by the reaction of dienone derivatives with TosMIC is reported. The reaction involves a van Leusen's pyrrole synthesis followed by an unusual C-C bond cleavage in the presence of water under mild conditions.