Chalcones: Retrospective Synthetic Approaches and Mechanistic Aspects of a Privileged Scaffold

This review summarizes the synthetic methodologies used in the last 25 years for the synthesis of chalcones, which are a class of flavonoids having a 1,3-diphenyl-2-propene-1-one backbone. These compounds are considered a hot topic in the field of medicinal chemistry, due to their pharmacological activity and because they are important precursors for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds with therapeutic applications such as: flavones, flavanones, isoxazolines, benzothiazepines, pyrimidines and pyrazolines derivatives.