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.

Keywords: Polymerisation reactions, chromophores, Deprotections, Oxidative Couplings, 3,3-diaryl alkylpropionates, Carbometalation, alkynes