Benzazetidines are a class of N-heterocycles potentially very interesting for a variety of purposes, including biological applications and drug design. In the past, their high ring strain has hampered the development of trustable, general, and efficient synthetic methodologies for their preparation. In this review article, the aim is to disclose all the literature contributions about the synthesis of these compounds and the study of their reactivity, from the early examples to the most recent synthetic approaches. Recently, there has been a growth of interest for this heterocycle, driven by the publication of novel synthetic methodologies based on palladium-catalyzed intramolecular C-H amination and organocatalyzed ring-closure of 2-(N-Boc-anilino)-α-ketoesters/amides.
Keywords: N-heterocycles; azetidines; cyclization reactions; organocatalysis; ring strain.
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