Intermolecular aryne ene reactions present opportunities to arylate a wide range of
unsaturated substrates in a single step, whilst intramolecular reactions provide expedient
access to valuable benzofused carbo- and heterocyclic frameworks. This short review
will chart the development of the aryne ene reaction from initial reports that rationalise
unexpected byproduct formation in competing [4+2] and [2+2] cycloadditions through
to its exploitation in contemporary synthetic methodology.
Key words
aryne - ene reaction - arylation - arene functionalization