Recent progress on Catellani reaction

The Catellani reaction is a palladium-catalyzed hydrocarbon-activated multicomponent tandem reaction involving an aryl halide, an electrophilic coupling reagent and a terminating reagent. It must be mentioned that norbornenes act as co-catalysts play critical roles in Catellani reaction. After more than two decades of development, the reaction has evolved into a unique method for the building of polyfunctionalized aromatics from easily accessible starting materials, incorporating not only the advantages of cross-coupling and adjacent metallization, but also excellent reactivity and wide applicability. This manuscript reviews the important advances of Catellani reactions over the last 4 years, which would be valuable for the researchers interested in this prosperous research area.