In recent years, furan-2(5H)-ones have attracted considerable attention as synthetic target. This subunit is present in a large number of natural products, which display a wide range of biological activities, and is present in a number of drugs with diverse biological activities, such as antifungal, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. It can also be used as synthetic intermediate. This review describes recent synthetic methodologies for preparation of furan-2(5H)-ones, as well as their application in the total synthesis of natural products with this subunit.
Keywords: furan-2(5h)-ones, biologic activity, natural products, synthetic methodologies