An Atom-Economical Method for the Formation of Amidopyrroles Exploiting the Self-Assembled Resorcinarene Capsule.

Here is reported the first example of an organocatalyzed coupling between pyrrole and isocyanates in a nanoconfined space. The hexameric resorcinarene capsule C is able to catalyze the direct coupling between isocyanates and pyrroles to give amidopyrroles with excellent yields and selectivities. The reaction catalyzed by C prevents the use of expensive and poorly atom-economical reagents. As in natural enzymes, the cavity of C is able to discriminate between isomeric substrates.