Oxygen-, Nitrogen-, and Sulfur-Containing Heterocycles: Recent Advances in De Novo Synthesis and Prospect

Oxygen-, nitrogen-, and sulfur-containing heterocycles exhibit remarkable biological and pharmaceutical activities that are often found in naturally occurring products, pharmaceutical molecules, and synthetic compounds. Therefore, the synthesis of heterocycle building blocks has gained huge attention in the past decade. Compared with the modification of heterocyclic compounds, the construction of heterocyclic compounds from scratch is more attractive. In this Perspective, we describe our recent advances in the rational design and strategic application of the de novo synthesis of various synthetically and biologically important heterocycles. The organization of the Perspective is categorized in the following order: (a) type of heterocycle, (b) ring size of heterocycle, (c) number of heteroatoms, and (d) fused heterocycles. Moreover, some significant and representative synthetic methodologies and their synthetic applications and brief reaction mechanisms have also been described. We hope that this Perspective will help to provide a guideline for researchers who are interested in this fertile area.