α-Keto Acids: Acylating Agents in Organic Synthesis

A significant number of important aryl-transfer reactions, such as direct acylation, ortho acylation, heteroatom acylation, and a diversity of cyclization reactions using the title compound as a key starting material, have been described in recent years. Just like a sleeping beauty, alpha-oxocarboxylic acids were awakened from a 17-year sleep to become important reagents in classical and new acylation reactions. The greener characteristic of the coproduct formed in reactions using alpha-keto acid (only CO2), together with its versatility as a building block in catalytic organic synthesis, accredit it as a candidate to green acylating agent, an alternative to acyl chloride, and other acyl-transfer reagents. This review presents the impressive breakthroughs achieved mainly in the past decade in the development of new catalytic reactions for the formation of C-C, C-N, and C-S bonds using alpha-keto acids.