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Updated: Jun 13, 2025

Isolating Free Carbenes, their Mixed Dimers and Organic Radicals
Published on: April 19, 2019
Recent advances in metal carbene-induced semipinacol rearrangements
1Key Laboratory of Functional Molecular Engineering of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, P. R. China. zhusf@scut.edu.cn.
Abstract:
As has been well-recognized, the semipinacol rearrangements (SPRs) function as a powerful and versatile tool for the construction of all-carbon and heteroatom-containing quaternary stereocenters, which are present in various natural products and bioactive molecules. In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to exploring the metal carbene-induced semipinacol rearrangements, providing an attractive and powerful strategy for obtaining various important carbonyl compounds. However, to date, no review has been published that summarizes the significant advances in the preparation of functionalized carbonyl compounds using these migration rearrangement reactions. In this review article, we have summarised the recent advances in the field of metal carbene-induced SPR reactions according to different metal classifications. Mechanistic insights, synthetic applications, and their limitations are discussed. The challenges and opportunities in this field are also outlined.
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