Recent advances in the synthesis of azetidines

Azetidines (azacyclobutanes) are found to be a well-known class of heterocyclic molecules. Azetidine framework was identified in various natural products and several pharmacologically significant synthetic compounds. Because of the intrinsic ring strain, the formation of azetidines is a stimulating attempt. Several methods have been established to form various substituted azetidine derivatives. The two typical methods to make azetidine scaffold are cyclization reaction and cycloaddition reaction of appropriate substrates. In addition, various substituted azetidines are retrieved by conversions of functional groups on azetidine motif. The azetidine ring contains characteristic reactivity and also act as ligands in asymmetric catalysis. Significantly, various azetidines find applications in medicinal chemistry as pharmacological tools in peptidomimetics as unnatural amino acids. In this mini review, we want to show recent advances in the synthesis of azetidines from 2021 to 2024.