Cu-catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling: a versatile strategy for C-C bond formations via the oxidative...

Cycloadditions are one of the most valuable and effective synthesis routes to form cyclic compounds. These are concerted pericyclic reactions between two unsaturated compounds resulting in a cyclic product with two new σ bonds formed at the expense of π bonds. The [4 + 2] cycloaddition, known as the Diels–Alder reaction, is the most common. The other example is a [2 + 2] cycloaddition.

Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig discovered the pinacol coupling reaction in 1859. It is a radical dimerization reaction and involves the reductive coupling of aldehydes or ketones in the presence of hydrocarbon solvent to yield vicinal diols.

Crossed Claisen condensations are base-promoted reactions between two different ester molecules producing β-dicarbonyl compounds. The reaction involving esters, with both containing α hydrogen, results in a mixture of four different products that are difficult to isolate. This reduces the synthetic utility of the reaction.

Some cycloaddition reactions are activated by heat, while others are initiated by light. For example, a [2 + 2] cycloaddition between two ethylene molecules occurs only in the presence of light. It is photochemically allowed but thermally forbidden.

Heterogeneous catalysis involves a catalyst in a different phase from the reactants. It is a process where the catalyst and the reactants are in distinct phases, typically solid and gas or liquid.Most heterogeneous catalysts are metals, metal oxides, or acids. The list includes transition metals like iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), tungsten (W), silver (Ag), and copper (Cu). These metals possess partially vacant d orbitals that...

Crossed aldol addition is the reaction between two different carbonyl compounds under acidic or basic conditions. Here, both the carbonyl compounds function as nucleophiles and electrophiles. As shown in Figure 1, such a reaction yields a mixture of products, two of which are formed via self-condensation, while the remaining two are formed via crossed-condensation. Without adjustment, the reaction's usefulness in organic chemistry is decreased.