Uncommon carbene insertion reactions

Transition-metal-catalysed carbene insertion reaction is a straightforward and efficient protocol for the construction of carbon-carbon or carbon-heteroatom bonds. Compared to the intensively studied and well-established common carbene insertion reactions, including carbene insertion into C-H, Si-H, N-H, O-H, and S-H bonds, several uncommon carbene insertion reactions, including carbene insertion into B-H, Sn-H, Ge-H, P-H, F-H, C-C, and M-M bonds, have been neglected for a long time. However, more and more studies on uncommon carbene insertion reactions have been disclosed recently, and clearly demonstrate the great synthetic potential of these reactions. The current perspective reviews the history and the newest advances of uncommon carbene insertion reactions, discusses their potential applications and challenges, and also presents an outlook of this promising field.

Automated summary

In comparison to common carbene insertion reactions, the overlooked uncommon carbene insertion reactions have been gaining more attention recently for their synthetic potential. The perspective reviews the history and latest advances of uncommon carbene insertion reactions, discusses their potential applications and challenges, and provides an outlook for this promising field.