C–H functionalization of camphor through emerging approaches

Abstract

Camphor and related monoterpenoid natural products have served as versatile “chiral pool” materials in organic chemistry for over half a century. Historically, many researchers have used a variety of transformations involving orchestrated rearrangements of the bornane skeleton to functionalize the camphor framework, expanding the utility of this chiral building block. Recent developments in C–H functionalization methodologies provide myriad opportunities to derivatize the camphor framework in a selective and predictable fashion. In this Review, a short summary of the methods for functionalization of the camphor scaffold using rearrangement chemistry is provided followed by a discussion of emerging methods for directed C–H functionalizations that provide diverse new ways to derivatize the camphor framework.