Direct (Hetero)arylation Reactions of (Hetero)arenes as Tools for the Step- and Atom-Economical Synthesis of Biologically Active Unnatural Compounds Including Pharmaceutical Targets

The significant number of papers and reviews published in this last decade testifies to the utility of the transition-metal-catalyzed direct C–H (hetero)arylation reactions of (hetero)arenes as efficient and powerful tools for the step- and atom-economical, regio- and chemoselective synthesis of natural and unnatural compounds. However, no review has so far been devoted to summarizing the application of these reactions in the synthesis of biologically active compounds. This review with 341 references aims to fill this gap, providing a comprehensive picture of the transition-metal-catalyzed intra- and intermolecular direct C–H (hetero)arylation reactions of (hetero)arenes with (hetero)aryl halides or pseudohalides that have been used as key steps of syntheses of unnatural biologically relevant compounds including pharmaceutical targets, up to the end of September 2015. Attention has also been directed to provide a brief description of the biological properties of the synthesized compounds. 1 Introduction 2 Syntheses via Intramolecular Direct (Hetero)arylation of (Hetero)arene Derivatives 3 Syntheses via Intermolecular Direct (Hetero)arylation Reactions 3.1 Of Arenes 3.2 Of Five-Membered Heteroarenes with One Heteroatom 3.3 Of Five-Membered Heteroarenes with Two Heteroatoms 3.4 Of Five-Membered Heteroarenes with Three and Four Heteroatoms 3.5 Of Five-Membered Heteroarenes Fused to a Six-Membered Heteroarene 3.6 Of Five-Membered Heteroarene Moieties of Tricyclic Heteroarenes 3.7 Of Six-Membered Heteroarenes 4 Syntheses of Nitrogen-Containing Polycyclic Heteroarene via One-Pot Palladium-Catalyzed Domino Direct Arylation/N-Arylation Reactions 5 Conclusions