Mannich-like reaction to form nitroarene 11. The Mannich-like reaction between p-nitrophenol 10, pyrrolidine 7, and paraformaldehyde 8 was performed under neat conditions (Scheme 6). The exotherm was effectively mitigated by slow portion-wise addition of 8 at 5 °C. Once all of the reagents had been added, the mixture was heated to 100 °C for four hours. The remaining pyrrolidine was removed by co-distillation with methanol, whereupon nitro compound 11 was obtained in quantitative yield. No over-or under-substitution was observed.