I₂-catalyzed Michael addition of indole and pyrrole to nitroolefins

An easy and efficient method to generate indolyl nitroalkane 5 and pyrrolyl nitroalkane 7 in high yields using β-nitrostyrene and indole/pyrrole at room temperature in the presence of catalytic amount of iodine is reported. The short reaction times and high yields of product are noteworthy. Molecular iodine promoted Michael addition is operationally simple and efficient method compared to the known Lewis acids or rare earth metal catalysts to generate different indolyl/pyrrolyl nitroalkanes in high yield.