Reactions that involve the addition of carbon-centered radicals to basic heteroarenes, followed by formal hydrogen atom loss, have become widely known as Minisci-type reactions. First developed into a useful synthetic tool in the late 1960s by Minisci, this reaction type has been in constant use over the last half century by chemists seeking to functionalize heterocycles in a rapid and direct manner, avoiding the need for de novo heterocycle synthesis. Whilst the originally developed protocols for radical generation remain in active use today, they have been joined in recent years by a new array of radical generation strategies that allow use of a wider variety of radical precursors that often operate under milder and more benign conditions. The recent surge of interest in new transformations based on free radical reactivity has meant that numerous choices are now available to a synthetic chemist looking to utilize a Minisci-type reaction. Radical-generation methods based on photoredox catalysis and electrochemistry have joined approaches which utilize thermal cleavage or the in situ generation of reactive radical precursors. This review will cover the remarkably large body of literature that has appeared on this topic over the last decade in an attempt to provide guidance to the synthetic chemist, as well as a perspective on both the challenges that have been overcome and those that still remain. As well as the logical classification of advances based on the nature of the radical precursor, with which most advances have been concerned, recent advances in control of various selectivity aspects associated with Minisci-type reactions will also be discussed.
Keywords: C−H functionalization; Minisci reaction; heterocycles; radicals.
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