Multifaceted zirconate complexes in organic synthesis

•Unique reactivity of zirconate complexes toward electrophiles.•Diverse reactivity patterns when different electrophiles employed.•Synthesis of novel organic molecules by one-pot multi-component reactions.•Reaction mechanisms for the reductive elimination and cross-coupling.

An ate complex is a salt in which the central atom increases its valence or coordination number and becomes anionic. A significant reaction by the ate complexes is a strong nucleophilicity toward electrophiles to form new chemical bonds, which may lead to useful one-pot synthetic methods for building complex molecules. Zirconocene complexes can have a metal center with 14–18 electrons and a coordination number of 3–5. The 14-electron and 16-electron zirconocene complexes have been explored extensively and many applications have been developed in synthetic chemistry. Zirconate complexes with an 18-electron configuration and five-coordinated number have a higher likelihood of forming new CC bonds. The present review concentrates on the zirconate complexes used in organic synthesis. When zirconate complexes are treated with p-chloranil, aldehydes, chloroformates, esters, cinnamates, allyl bromides, or chlorophosphines, they undergo different types of reactions and various organic products are formed in an efficient manner.

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