Recent Advances in P2O5 Catalyzed Organic Synthesis

Organic synthesis is a creative science involving the construction and cleavage of bond(s), which attracts particular attention because of its immense importance to life and society. The strategies regarding construction and cleavage of bonds represent the central theme in organic synthesis. Development of practical catalysts for efficient synthesis is of key importance to both academia and the chemical industry. A meticulous literature survey at this stage revealed that P2O5 has recently emerged as a powerful catalyst and has been widely utilized in various transformations. Considering the lack of review in the area of P2O5 catalyzed organic reactions and in continuation of our efforts on more sustainable syntheses catalyzed by P2O5 and/or P2O5 embedded on solid support, here an updated overview of the developments in P2O5 catalyzed reactions in solvent and/or under solvent-free conditions is provided. The present report would encompass the developments up to the end of 2011 with special emphasis on the most recent developments. In the last section of this review, some prospects about the future developments in the field covered by this review, giving special emphasis to those aspects that still require further research to be solved satisfactorily have been discussed.