Recent applications of Cyrene as a chiral synthon

Abstract

Dihydrolevoglucosenone (Cyrene™) is a unique chiral molecule with great synthetic potential. Currently, Cyrene has been successfully used as a dipolar aprotonic solvent with green chemistry requirements, which is very important for both medicine and industry. There are several review articles on this topic, which we have referenced in this article. In this review, we describe the prospect of using Cyrene as a chiral molecule in organic synthesis, including an emphasis on the route to practically important objects based on it. The review presents chemical transformations of Cyrene by reactive centers (carbonyl and methylene groups, acetal center, anhydro bridge) with an eye to valuable chiral molecules and discusses the mechanism of some interesting transformations. We hope that the review will be useful to scientists working not only in organic but also in medicinal and polymer chemistry. The review summarizes the literature data for the last 10 years, with the rare exception of earlier works in view of the importance of using the published material.