The PVP and its derivatives have been broadly applied in polymers, organic
syntheses, and catalysis processes. The crosslinked PVP is a well-known polymer support
for numerous reagents and catalysts. Cross-linked PVPs are commercially available polymers
and have attracted much attention over the past due to their interesting properties
such as the facile functionalization, high accessibility of functional groups, being nonhygroscopic,
easy to prepare, easy filtration, and swelling in many organic solvents. A
brief explanation of the reported applications of PVPs in different fields followed by the
discussion on the implementation of methodologies for catalytic efficiency of PVP-based
reagents in the organic synthesis is included. The aim is to summarize the literature under
a few catalytic categories and to present each as a short scheme involving reaction conditions.
In the text, discussions on the synthesis and the structural determination of some typical polymeric reagents
are presented, and the mechanisms of some organic reactions are given. Where appropriate, advantages
of reagents in comparison with the previous reports are presented. This review does not include patent literature.