Metal-free multicomponent reactions: a benign access to monocyclic six-membered N-heterocycles

The advent of multicomponent reactions in the synthesis of heterocycles and their ever burgeoning applications in drug development, materials chemistry, and catalysis, have attracted a great deal of current scientific interest. In particular, the metal-free multicomponent synthesis of six membered N-heterocycles has undergone intensive research over the last two decades offering an environmentally benevolent means contrary to traditional metal catalysed reactions. To the best of our knowledge, there exists no exclusive review on the metal-free multicomponent synthesis of six membered N-heterocyles, and hence the present report highlights the progress on metal-free multicomponent reactions with their advantages and mechanistic insights to access monocyclic six-membered N-heterocycles including pyridine, pyrimidine, pyrazine, triazine and their hydrogenated derivatives. The literature is covered since 2000, and the contents offer not only striking methods for divergent synthesis of six-membered N-heterocycles but also put forward some new insights into the exploration of metal-free multicomponent chemistry.