We have selected four reviews covering as many topics in organic synthesis. The review by van Otterlo and de Koning examines the use of the ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reaction in the synthesis of aromatic compounds. This can sound almost alien to medicinal chemists, used to take aromatic building blocks and scaffolds as they come, but it can be an interesting method for the preparation of very specific substitution patterns.
The second review, by Afonso et al., covers new greener methods for the preparation of heterocycles, including ionic liquids, supercritical CO2, solvent-free reactions, aqueous media and others. Some of these methods are probably exotic, but it is a good review about possible synthetic venues in the near future.
The next work, by Swamy et al., is centered on new developments and conditions of the Mitsunobu reaction, an all-time classic. This extensive review includes information on many exciting novelties.
Finally, the review by Bellina and Rossi, the one with the longest title of our selection, is focused on the coupling of aromatic compounds with activated sp3-hybridized C–H bonds, a field that is attracting more and more attention in the last years.
