Photocatalysis for Heterocycle Formation and Functionalisation

Heterocyclic compounds are an important class of organic chemicals that feature one or more heteroatoms in their ring systems. Such compound class have played an important role in our daily lives, as they are ubiquitous in natural products, pharmaceuticals, and other biologically active molecules. Many heterocyclic scaffolds have been identified as privileged structural units in pharmacologically active compounds. According to statistics, more than 90% of novel pharmaceuticals contain at least one heterocycle. Advances in modern synthetic techniques, such as organocatalytic cycloadditions, metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions, have offered many efficient and rapid approaches for assembly of diverse heterocycles of various ring sizes. However, given increasing need for expansion of the available drug-like chemical space and from both environmental and economical viewpoints, it is still highly desirable to develop new efficient and practical methodologies toward heterocycle synthesis and functionalization under “green and sustainable” conditions.
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