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Diverse, visible-light-induced transformations of methylenecyclopropanes (MCPs) have been reported in recent years, attracting significant attention from synthetic chemists. As readily accessible strained molecules, MCPs have sufficient reactivity to selectively generate different target products, through reactions with various radical species upon visible-light irradiation under regulated reaction conditions. These transformations can be classified into three subcategories of reaction pathway, forming ring-opened products, cyclopropane derivatives, and alkynes. These products include pharmaceutical intermediates and polycyclic/heterocyclic compounds that are challenging to obtain using traditional methods. This review summarizes the recent advancements in this field.

An interesting type of reaction involving functionalized methylenecyclopropanes (MCPs) has been revealed. Here, a nucleophilic attack of an anionic species onto a partially polarity-reversed MCP was realized by treating a neighbouring carboxylic ester tethered to the MCP and amine with KHMDS to realize an umpolung ring opening of the MCP. This work established an operationally convenient protocol for the rapid construction of isoquinolinone frameworks.