Recent advances in bismuth-catalyzed organic synthesis

Bismuth(III) compounds (BiX3, X = Cl, Br, NO3 and OTf etc.) are moisture- and air-tolerant Lewis acids, which have been widely applied as green catalyst in diverse organic synthesis in the past few years. This review illustrates significant advances in this field over recent five years, and mainly focuses on the bismuth-catalyzed formation of carbon-carbon, carbon-nitrogen, carbon-sulfur bonds, as well as oxidation reaction, protection and deprotection of alcohols and carbonyl compounds, and organic reactions in aqueous media.