Visible light promoted chalcone transformations and their prominence for the synthesis of functionalized molecules: a review.

Abstract

Over the time, there has been a growing interest in the development of ecologically acceptable and sustainable technologies for modern organic synthesis in order to meet the demands of safe, economical, and renewable industrial productions. As a result, photocatalysis has revolutionized organic synthesis by offering innovative and sustainable functionalization of complex molecules. Accordingly, the visible light-promoted synthesis of chalcone derivatives has been highly advantageous in enabling eco-friendly chemical transformations, as it utilizes light as an abundant and non-toxic energy source. Chalcones are inherently versatile synthons in synthetic organic chemistry because of the α, β-unsaturated carbonyl system, which allows for a variety of molecular transformations. Thus, the present review summarized visible light-promoted transformations of chalcones to corresponding functionalized heterocyclic derivatives like aziridines, oxiranes, cyclobutanes, imidazo[2,1-b]thiazoles, urundeuvines, benzo[d][1,3]-oxazocines, pyrimidines, and sulfonated chromanes, which may be useful for biological and material science applications.