Atom-economic Amidation and Esterification Mediated by Heteroatom-substituted Terminal Alkynes

Amides and esters are ubiquitous substructures in life sciences, pharmaceuticals, and bioactive natural products. Although numerous coupling reagents for amidation and esterification have been developed to date, synthetic methodology avoiding poor atom economy and E-factor is still required. Recently, several groups have reported utility for the heteroatom-substituted terminal alkynes as coupling reagents, which react with carboxylic acids in a "click" manner. In this mini review, recent reports about atom-economic amide and ester synthesis via activated vinyl esters are highlighted.