Recent uses of iron (III) chloride in organic synthesis

Abstract

Iron (III) chloride is extensively used in organic synthesis as an ideal Lewis acid since it is an inexpensive, efficient, stable, environmentally friendly and a convenient agent for several useful reactions such as; polymerisations, oxidations, oxidative couplings, reductions, C C bond formation, Ferrier rearrangement, one-pot multicomponent condensations, Friedel-Crafts reactions, cyclisations, glycosidation, Prins-type cyclisation, deprotection of various functional groups, and as a reagent in key steps of natural products synthesis. This comprehensive review attempts to cover the advances in this field, which have occurred in the last five years.