**Saba Kanwal 1, Noor-ul- Ann 1, Saman Fatima 1, Abdul-Hamid Emwas 2, Meshari Alazmi 3,4, Xin Gao 3, Maha Ibrar 1, Rahman Shah Zaib Saleem <sup>1</sup> and Ghayoor Abbas Chotana 1,\***


Academic Editors: José Pérez Sestelo and Luis A. Sarandeses Received: 11 April 2020; Accepted: 29 April 2020; Published: 30 April 2020

**Abstract:** A convenient two-step preparation of NH-free 5-aryl-pyrrole-2-carboxylates is described. The synthetic route consists of catalytic borylation of commercially available pyrrole-2-carboxylate ester followed by Suzuki coupling without going through pyrrole N–H protection and deprotection steps. The resulting 5-aryl substituted pyrrole-2-carboxylates were synthesized in good- to excellent yields. This synthetic route can tolerate a variety of functional groups including those with acidic protons on the aryl bromide coupling partner. This methodology is also applicable for cross-coupling with heteroaryl bromides to yield pyrrole-thiophene, pyrrole-pyridine, and 2,3'-bi-pyrrole based bi-heteroaryls.

**Keywords:** borylation; Suzuki coupling; NH-Free; 5-aryl pyrrole-2-carboxylates; iridium-catalyzed; heteroaryl substituted pyrroles; 2,3 -bipyrrole
