Applications of Zirconium (IV) Compounds in Organic Synthesis

From a viewpoint of synthetic organic chemistry, the recent developments and applications of zirconium compounds as promoter and catalyst for many important organic reactions including addition reactions such as Michael reaction, aldo reaction, Strecker reaction and carbometalation, cycloadditions, reduction reactions, cyclization, rearrangement reactions such as Ferrier rearrangement, Fries rearrangement, the sliding cyclohexane rearrangement, Beckman rearrangement and the rearrangement of alkoxybenzyl allyl ethers into aldehydes, the formation and cleavage of common protecting groups such as carbonyl compounds, carboxylic acids, amino groups and hydroxy groups, were reviewed. The use zirconium compounds including ZrCl4, ZrOCl2·8H2O, Zr(SO4)2·4H2O and Zr(HSO4)4, generally, allows the reaction to be carried out under mild conditions and affords the corresponding products in excellent yields with high regio-, chemo- and stereo-selectivity. Keywords: Organic Synthesis, Zirconium (IV) Compounds, Michael reaction, Beckman rearrangement, cycloadditions, aldo reaction, stereo-selectivity