Synthesis of Natural Products and Pharmaceuticals via Catalytic C-H Functionalization

The synthesis of natural products and pharmaceuticals, particularly those containing heterocyclic frameworks, can be dramatically simplified by using catalytic C-H functionalization. C-H functionalization has gathered significant interest from the organic synthesis community because it provides a new strategy to construct carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds in highly functionalized, complex molecules without prefunctionalization. In this book chapter, methods in heterocycle substitution and synthesis using catalytic C-H functionalization are classified by heterocycle, with specific focus on the cutting-edge synthesis of natural products and pharmaceuticals.