Chemical Synthesis of Substituted Naphthalene Derivatives: A Review

Abstract

This review article outlines the progress made in the synthesis of substituted naphthalene derivatives. Naphthalene and its derivatives exhibit various biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiviral, antitubercular, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, etc. Several strategies have been developed in the past for the construction of naphthalene derivatives, primarily focused on Metal-catalyzed reactions (palladium, copper, zinc, rhodium, platinum, nickel, etc.,) and Lewis acid-catalyzed transformations. This review discusses the preparations of naphthalene derivatives using various salt such as gallium chlorides, gold chlorides, gold bromides, various gold complexes as well as bronsted acids like triflic acid and trifluoroacetic acid, and Lewis acids such as like boron trifluoride etherate. Additionally, miscellaneous reactions involving metal and Lewis acids are explored. The transformational approaches covered in this review include cycloadditions, carboannulations, benzoannulations, electroannulations, rearrangements, and cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions. Overall this review provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the current state of preparations of substituted naphthalenes, highlighting their medicinal and industrial importance.