Light-induced synthesis of 2H-azirines and its applications in organic chemistry

2H-azirines have represented versatile building motifs in the domain of organic chemistry owing to their excellent reaction activity induced by the high strain of the three-membered ring species. Over the past decades, brilliant achievements have been made in 2H-azirine chemistry involving the construction as well as the transformation of such functional compounds. In the presence of transition metals, strong bases or oxidants, 2H-azirines could be converted into the corresponding products under harsh reaction conditions. Different from traditional catalytic methods, the utilization of photochemistry has proved to be an extremely fascinating protocol that facilitates the construction of 2H-azirine blocks from diverse substrates and further conversion into various derivatives with interesting biological activities. In this regard, more and more light-driven synthetic approaches featuring high efficiency and mild conditions have been developed. Herein, we summarized the accessibility and applications of 2H-azirines as powerful precursors or key intermediates for the synthesis of biologically promising molecules in the presence of photocatalytic conditions.