Pyridynes and indolynes as building blocks for functionalized heterocycles and natural products

Heterocyclic arynes, or hetarynes, have been studied for over 100 years. However, challenges associated with observing these reactive species, as well as developing synthetically useful methods for their generation and trapping, have limited their use. This review provides a brief historical perspective on the field of hetarynes, in addition to a discussion of pyridyne and indolyne methodologies. Moreover, this review highlights the use of pyridynes, indolynes, and related strained intermediates in natural product synthesis.