Water makes it possible: The Cu(2)O-catalyzed reaction between easily available o-bromobenzylbromides and benzamidines by using Cs(2)CO(3) as the base and N,N'-dimethylethylenediamine (DMEDA) as the additive in water as the solvent gives access to substituted quinazolines in a single step with yields ranging from 57 to 85 % (see scheme).

The efficient Cu(I)-catalyzed oxidative homocoupling of terminal alkynes in the presence of a base using an amine as a ligand and oxygen as an oxidant yields the symmetrical 1,3-diynes with yields of up to 99%. The outcome of the couplings critically depends on the proper choice of base and ligand as well as reaction conditions. Best results were observed with 2.0 mol % CuCl, 1.5 mol % TMEDA or DBEDA, and DBU or DABCO in acetonitrile.

The novel Pd-catalyzed C(sp(2))-H/C(sp(2))-H cross-coupling of unactivated xanthines with unactivated arenes utilizing a combination of Ag(I) and O(2) as oxidants exclusively yields C-8 arylated xanthines in a single synthetic operation.

In the past decades, an enormous number of reports have been dedicated towards the synthesis of nitrogen containing heterocycles. This immense interest have emerged owing to their wide varieties of pharmacological activities. The present review focused on the synthesis of isoquinoline derivatives, a family of N-heterocycles showing a broad range of structural diversity, biological and pharmaceutical activities. The progress on their synthetic strategies using versatile approaches are discussed in details.

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