Visible Light-Mediated Synthesis of Quinazoline and Quinazolinone Derivatives: A Quadrennial Update

Quinazoline and quinazolinones are among the most significant nitrogenous heterocycles in medicinal chemistry, with a broad range of biological properties. There are several traditional methods to generate them in the literature. Most of them include the generation of enormous amounts of waste, laborious workup, and poor-yield products, all of which contribute to the impact on the environment. Therefore, it would be ideal to employ moderate, straightforward methods to construct such a strong nucleus. However, during the past fifteen years, visible light-mediated transformations have also garnered a lot of interest as an environmentally friendlier and greener alternative since they use photons as a clean energy source. This study investigates a range of representative synthetic protocols from 2021 forward to date, therefore expanding our understanding of visible light-driven quinazoline and quinazolinone derivative synthesis. It also generates ideas for potential future developments. This compendium is organized based on the type of heterocyclic scaffold that was synthesized. The scopes, limits, and mechanistic research of various study findings are also discussed.