Reactions of Arynes Involving Transition-Metal Catalysis

Arynes are important building blocks for introducing aromatic rings into molecules and they are frequently utilized in syntheses. Historically, arynes were generated under harsh conditions and this limited their use. Arynes can now be generated under milder conditions, e.g. from 2-(trimethylsilyl)phenyl triflate, and utilized in transition-metal catalyzed reactions such as [2+2+2] reactions, insertion into sigma-bonds, cascade cyclizations and C-H activation reactions. This short review focuses on transition-metal-catalyzed reactions relevant to aryne intermediates generated from 2-(trimethylsilyl)phenyl triflates and other aryne precursors.