Efforts towards Michael addition of isobutyraldehyde to β-methyl-β-nitrostyrenes

This article describes the attempt towards racemic Michael addition reaction of isobutyraldehyde with branched nitrostyrenes. The reactions yield the Michael adduct in part but mostly undergo an undesired reverse reaction due to nucleophilic attack of pyrrolidine on the nitrostyrene. A detailed discussion reasoning for the poor forward reaction and the kinetics of the reverse hydrolysis of the nitrostyrene has been documented.