Mechanochemistry in Organocatalysis: A Green and Sustainable Route toward the Synthesis of Bioactive Heterocycles

Abstract

Considering the great prevalence of heterocyclic compounds in the core structure of numerous natural products, synthetic drug candidates, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and also in optoelectronic materials; tremendous efforts have been dedicated toward their synthesis and functionalization. But, the exploitation of hazardous, volatile organic solvents and toxic reagents caused disadvantageous effects on the atom economy and eco-friendly nature of the chemical transformation. Therefore, developing chemical processes providing easy access to complex target molecules by avoiding the utilization of hazardous solvents and reagents for making our environment toxic-free is of increasing significance for chemists in both academia and industry. The synergic combination of the features of mechanochemical activation as alternative energy input with the efficiency associated with small organic molecules that can catalyze chemical reactions is predominantly relevant to fulfill the goal of green and sustainable chemistry. This chapter is dedicated to providing a critical overview on the application of mechanochemical techniques for the synthesis of five- and six-membered heterocycles, as well as complex-fused heterocycles and spiro-heterocycles under organocatalytic conditions.