A mixture of methyl 3-(i-propylsulfonyl)-2-oxopropanoate (0.23 g, 1 mmol), 4-thiophene-3-ylaniline (0.18 g, 1 mmol), 2-methoxybenzaldehyde (0.14, 1 mmol), acetic acid (0.023 mL, 0.4 mmol) and toluene (3 mL) was heated at reflux overnight. After the reaction was completed, the reaction mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature. To the mixture was added ether and precipitated compound was collected by filtration. The resulting aimed compound was washed with ether/n-hexane solution to give 4-(i-propylsulfonyl)-3-hydroxy-1-(4-thiophene-3-ylphenyl)-5-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1,5-dihydropyrrole-2-one (0.37 g, yield: 79%) as pale brown solid.
