Triazines
are an important class of six-membered aromatic heterocycles
possessing three nitrogen atoms, resulting in three types of regio-isomers:
1,2,4-triazines (a-triazines), 1,2,3-triazines (v-triazines), and 1,3,5-triazines (s-triazines).
Notably, the application of triazines as cyclic aza-dienes in inverse
electron-demand Diels–Alder (IEDDA) cycloaddition reactions
has been established as a unique and powerful method in N-heterocycle synthesis, natural product preparation, and bioorthogonal
chemistry. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the advances
in the construction of these triazines via annulation and ring-expansion
reactions, especially emphasizing recent developments and challenges.
The synthetic transformations of triazines are focused on IEDDA cycloaddition
reactions, which have allowed access to a wide scope of heterocycles,
including pyridines, carbolines, azepines, pyridazines, pyrazines,
and pyrimidines. The utilization of triazine IEDDA reactions as key
steps in natural product synthesis is also discussed. More importantly,
a particular attention is paid on the bioorthogonal application of
triazines in fast click ligation with various strained alkenes and
alkynes, which opens a new opportunity for studying biomolecules in
chemical biology.