Radical‐promoted C‐C bond cleavage: a deconstructive approach for selective functionalization

Abstract

Just as “Deconstructivism”appearedas anovel movement in archi-tecturein the 1980s,deconstructiveapproaches haverecentlyemergedas excellentstrategiesfor scaffoldhoppingmodificationsin chemistry.The deconstructionand functionalizationof cyclicmoleculesmainlyinvolvesthe cleavageof the carbon–carbon(C@C) bondfollowedbythe constructionof new bonds.The cleavageof inertC@Csinglebonds,especiallyin unstrainedcycles,and theirsubsequentfunctionalizationis still one of the mostsought-afterchallengesin chemistry.Inthis vein,radical-mediatedstrategiesprovidean excellentapproachforachievingthis aim.Thisminireviewis an outlineof the historyofhomolyticcleavageand highlightsthe recentadvancesin exploringnewchemicalspaceby deconstructivefunctionalization.