Formaldehyde → 1-(1-Ethyl-1H-pyrrol-2-yl)-N,N-dimethylmethanamine

A mixture of a 35% aqueous formaldehyde solution (9.0 mL, 105 mmol) and dimethylamine hydrochloride (9.0 g, 110 mmol) was added to 1-ethylpyrrol (10.0 g, 105 mmol) under ice-cooling with stirring over 1 hour and 30 minutes and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 6 hours. A 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (150 mL) and ether were added to the reaction mixture to separate it. The thus obtained organic phase was separated, washed with a saturated aqueous NaCl solution and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. After filtration, the solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure and the residue was purified by silica gel chromatography (methylene chloride:methanol, 9:1) to obtain 2-(N,N-dimethylaminomethyl)-1-ethylpyrrol (15.6 9, yield: 97%).