Recent Advances in Dearomative Partial Reduction of Benzenoid Arenes

Abstract

Dearomative partial reduction is an extraordinary approach for transforming benzenoid arenes and has been well‐known for many decades, as demonstrated by the dihydrogenation in Birch reduction and the hydroarylation in Crich addition. Despite its significant importance in synthesis, this field has experienced slow progress over the last half‐century. However, a revival has been observed with the recent introduction of electrochemical and photochemical methods. In this Minireview, we summarize the recent advancements in dearomative partial reduction of benzenoid arenes, including dihydrogenation, hydroalkylation, arylation, alkenylation, amination, borylation and others. Further, the intriguing utilization of dearomative partial reduction in the synthesis of natural products is also highlighted. It is anticipated that this Minireview will stimulate further progress in arene dearomative transformations.