Methods of Cleavage of 2-Isoxazolines

This review details the numerous methods of cleavage of 2-isoxazolines and the application of these methods in the synthesis of natural products. 2-Isoxazolines can be cleaved to provide a vast array of functionalities depending on the cleavage conditions used and nature of the substrate. Several cleavage reactions of 2-isoxazolines are covered, including, reductive cleavage by hydrogenolysis using various metal catalysts and under various conditions; oxidative cleavage using ozonolysis, Br2 and ethylene glycol, and peracids; cleavage using Mo(CO)6 or Mo(CO)3(MeCN)3, thermolysis, photolysis, flash vacuum thermolysis, I2, DBU, sodium alkoxides, Et3N, EtMgBr, and mineral acids.