Two decades of recent advances of Passerini reactions: synthetic and potential pharmaceutical applications

Abstract

Passerini three-component reactions (P-3CRs) based on isonitriles are impressive synthetic protocols in which a number of starting materials react with each other to provide poly-functionalized compounds in a one-pot process, a so-called “domino” reaction, minimizing the total number of synthesis steps via a combinatorial protocol. Passerini reactions afford target molecules with highly complex chemical structures and versatile functional groups with good diastereoselectivity. In this review, we highlight recent advances made in relation to the Passerini reaction in the last two decades, from 2000 to 2021, including the potential applications of these compounds in the pharmaceutical field and in the synthesis of peptides, natural products, macrocycles, dendrimers, and a range of heterocycles.