Arylsulfonylmethyl isocyanides: a novel paradigm in organic synthesis

Abstract

p-Tosylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC), an α-acidic isocyanide, has emerged as a privileged reagent to access biologically relevant scaffolds. The present review highlights the significant advancements of TosMIC in the construction of fused heterocycles viz. pyrroles, benzimidazoles, imidazopyridines, quinolones, quinolines and some natural products such as (−)-ushikulide A, variolin B, porphobilinogen and mansouramycin B. The review article encompasses literature from the period starting from 2010 onwards and covers novel synthetic methodologies involving TosMIC. A wide range of reaction strategies have been reported involving TosMIC during this period such as Michael additions, cycloadditions and many cascade/tandem/multicomponent reactions.