Sustainable and Bio-Based Catalysts for Multicomponent Organic Synthesis: An Overview

The design and development of eco-friendly procedures for synthesizing organic compounds is an essential key to synthetic chemistry and has gained significant interest. The catalysts increase the rate of chemical reactions with additional advantages such as reduced energy input, diminished environmental impact, and overall financial benefit. The combined advantages of multicomponent reactions (MCRs) and natural catalysts will be an emerging and strategic area and is an ideal blend for the development of sustainable methodologies in organic synthesis. The plant, fruits, and their extracts and residues contain many useful chemical components lost during disposal. The crops contain renewable chemicals which are useful for catalysis and organic synthesis. Due to the excellent chemical properties of the natural extracts, they have gained great attention as cost-effective catalysts. In this review, we critically focus on using natural-based catalysts in multicomponent reactions that lead to synthetically and biologically relevant organic molecules and diverse heterocycles. The use of natural-based catalysts is cost-effective, favorable for work-up procedures, sustainable and industrial applications, and is usually more effective than traditional catalysts.