Multicomponent Reactions: A Modern Approach to Pyrrolidine Derivative Synthesis

Abstract

Pyrrolidine derivatives play a key role as nitrogen‐containing heterocycles in nature, medicine, and materials science. These compounds have an influence on many biological processes such as reducing inflammation, fighting bacteria, combating cancer shrinking tumors, managing diabetes, and affecting the nervous system. This makes the creation of new ways to synthesize pyrrolidine structures a top priority for organic and medicinal chemists. Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) have become go‐to methods to prepare pyrrolidine derivatives. They offer benefits like high atoms and steps economy and producing less waste than older multistep approaches. This review looks at recent breakthroughs (2018–2024) in making pyrrolidine derivatives through MCRs. It covers methods that use catalysts, those that do not, and the ones that involve azomethine ylides. The review pays special attention to cutting‐edge techniques like ultrasound and microwave radiation, different catalysts and salts, and green methods. It examines the range of compounds that can be made, the conditions needed for reactions, and how the resulting pyrrolidine structures relate to biology. This provides an up‐to‐date resource for scientists interested in the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds and finding new drugs.