Figure 1: Multi-substituted benzenes and their synthesis.
From: Benzene construction via organocatalytic formal [3+3] cycloaddition reaction
(a) examples of natural products and bioactive synthetic compounds containing multi-substituted benzene. (b) it took about eight steps for the classical substitution methods to synthesize a 2,4,6-trisubstituted benzoate. (c) transition metal-catalyzed C–H activation methods provides a shortcut (about five steps) for the synthesis. (d) this work: single key step reaction to afford tetra-substituted benzenes via organocatalyzed formal [3+3] cycloaddtion.
