Carbon‒Carbon Bond Activation of Ketones

Abstract

C−C bond activation has emerged as an increasingly useful approach for constructing complex molecular scaffolds through unusual bond-disconnection strategies. As a common versatile functional group, ketones provide an excellent handle and platform for C−C bond activation reactions. Utilizing strain-release, carbon-monoxide-extrusion, and directing-group (DG) approaches, diverse transformations of various ketones have been developed in the past few decades through cleavage of their α C−C bonds. This review highlights the development of C−C bond-activation strategies for both strained and less strained ketones with a focus on transition-metal (TM)-catalyzed approaches.