Usage of 1.3 dicarbonyl derivatives in domino and multicomponent reactions

A recently conceptualized strategy , although used for several billion years by Nature to build living molecules, consists in using modern and more efficient synthesis tools (i.e. chemical reactions) to create several covalent bonds in the same operation through a reaction between two (or more) different substrates .

Thus, a domino reaction is a chemical transformation that creates two or more covalent bonds through a reaction cascade in a single operation and without changing the conditions of the reaction .

Furthermore, a transformation that involves at least three different substrates and whose product contains a substantial part of each of the substrates, regardless of the mechanism involved, is referred to as a multicomponent reaction .

It's clear, then, that the use of domino and/or multicomponent reactions in a synthesis reduces the total number of steps, thus meeting the criteria of efficiency and cleanliness now required. Fewer steps mean savings in waste, human resources, raw materials and energy. Similarly, domino and/or multicomponent reactions often eliminate the need for protection/deprotection steps, as well as purification of reaction intermediates. Transformations enabling the creation of several covalent bonds in the same operation have become indispensable tools in green chemistry