A simple and concise tandem cyclization of alkynoates with amines in the presence of tert-butyl perbenzoate (TBPB) leads to 1,2,4-trisubstituted 1H-pyrroles. A variety of aromatic amines and aliphatic amines can be used in this approach, and a wide range of functionalized 1,2,4-trisubstituted 1H-pyrroles are obtained in good to excellent yields. This protocol not only corresponds to the construction of a pyrrole fragment, but also provides a new way to form C-C and C-N bonds.In the past decades, peroxides 1 have received much attention from chemists and drug design experts, which is reflected by the plethora of publications and reviews. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] This class of compounds are widely used not only in academic research as oxidant, cross-linking agent, and polymerization initiator, but also in the production of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals as active components. 9-16 tert-Butyl perbenzoate (TBPB) is a typical example of an organic peroxide that contains more than 8.1% active oxygen. In this paper, we describe an expeditious synthetic approach to 1,2,4-trisubstituted 1H-pyrroles 17,18 through TBPB-promoted tandem cyclization of alkynoates and amines (Scheme 1). It is well-known that the pyrrole fragment 19,20 is an important synthon, due to the occurrence of this unit in many molecules that are of biological and pharmaceutical interest. [21][22][23][24] Initially, optimization of the reaction conditions was conducted; the results are summarized in Table 1. The model reaction of dimethyl but-2-ynedioate (1a) and p-toluidine (2a) in dioxane at 100°C occurred in the presence of tertbutyl peroxide (TBHP) and resulted in formation of the product dimethyl 1-p-tolyl-1H-pyrrole-2,4-dicarboxylate (3aa) in 57% GC yield (entry 1). After screening reaction times, we found that three hours was optimal for completion of this reaction (entries 1-3). Among the various oxidants examined, TBPB was found to be more efficient for the explored reaction than other partners (entries 4-13). It is noteworthy that the reaction did not occur in the presence of several types of peroxides and persulfides, such as cyclohexanone peroxide, benzoyl peroxide, ammonium persulfate, oxone, and potassium persulfate (entries 4-7 and 9). Results of the screening study of the amount of TBPB indicated that 2.3 equivalent of TBPB was sufficient for the reaction (entries 14-16). Finally, we investigated the effect of solvent for this protocol and found that dioxane was most suitable (entries 15 and 17-20).We then conducted a survey of the substrate scope of this protocol. The results, compiled in Table 2, demonstrate that a range of reactions could be performed with various alkynoates 1 and amines 2. It was observed that all the reactions were quite sensitive to the electronic contribution of the substituents on the benzene ring of the aromatic amines; amines such as 2a-g, with electron-donating groups on the benzene ring, all afforded the corresponding 1,2,4-trisubstituted 1H-pyrrole 3aa-ag in good to excellent isolated yields, whereas substrates wi...