Owing to the importance of arene moieties in organic chemistry, methods for arene construction attract great attention. Besides the traditional substitution strategy from pre-existing arenes, the straightforward formation of arene cores can also provide significant shortcuts towards a wide array of target molecules with different substitution patterns. Among direct arene formation reactions, applying environmentally benign organocatalysis to access arene moieties continues to attract increasing attention. This short review provides a brief summary of recent progress on organocatalyzed de novo (hetero)arene formation and applications in enantioselective synthesis.1 Introduction2 Arene Formation with Non-Covalent Organocatalysts2.1 Arene Formation with Acid Organocatalysts2.2 Arene Formation with Base Organocatalysts2.3 Arene Formation with Hydrogen-Bonding Organocatalysts3 Arene Formation with Covalent Organocatalysts3.1 Arene Formation with Lewis Base Organocatalysts3.1.1 Arene Formation with Secondary Amine Organocatalysts3.1.2 Arene Formation with Tertiary Amine, Tertiary Phosphine and Sulfide Organocatalysts3.1.3 Arene Formation with N-Heterocyclic Carbene Organocatalysts3.2 Arene Formation with Lewis Acid Organocatalysts4 Conclusion
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