Disclosed is a process of forming a pyrrole compound. The process comprises contacting an α-carbonyl oxime compound 1 and an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde 2 R1 and R2 in compound 1 are independently selected from the group consisting of H, a silyl-group, an aliphatic group, an alicyclic group, an aromatic group, an arylaliphatic group, and an arylalicyclic group. The aliphatic, alicyclic, aromatic, arylaliphatic, and arylalicyclic groups comprise 0 to about 3 heteroatoms selected from the group N, O, S, Se and Si. R3 in aldehyde 2 is selected from the group consisting of H, a silyl-group, an aliphatic group, an alicyclic group, an aromatic group, an arylaliphatic group, and an arylalicyclic group. The aliphatic, alicyclic, aromatic, arylaliphatic, and arylalicyclic groups comprise 0 to about 3 heteroatoms selected from the group N, O, S, Se and Si. The α-carbonyl oxime compound 1 an the α,β-unsaturated aldehyde 2 are contacted in a suitable solvent in the presence of a secondary amine. The compounds are contacted for a sufficient period of time to allow the formation of an N-hydroxypyrrole compound 3