The road to green efficiency: exploration of multicomponent reactions from transition metal catalysis to no catalyst conditions

Abstract

During the past decade, multicomponent reactions (or MCRs) have become excellent tools for rapidly synthesizing structurally complex and high-value small molecules. In particular, the development of MCRs for building molecules of interest in biology and medicine has been receiving increasing attention due to their simplicity, efficiency, and convergent advantages. They have widespread applications in drug development, materials science, and biomedicine. It is noteworthy that MCRs typically have features such as mild conditions and universal compatibility with green solvents, highlighting their green sustainability. This minireview highlights recent progress in MCRs under different catalytic conditions until 2024. We classify the content of the review according to the type of catalyst in order to offer a better overview and deeper understanding to the readership, hoping this work will exhibit the charm of multicomponent reactions.