We provide a review of the progress of cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions in constructing a wide variety of C–C bonds. Sustainable cross-dehydrogenative coupling reactions can be combined with multiple forms of energy output.

It has been a long time since C–H bond oxidations first attracted chemists’ attention. In the last several decades, C–H bond oxidation has been extensively investigated and applied in chemistry. Transition-metal catalyzed C–H bond oxidative transformations presents one of the state-of-arts at the frontiers of chemistry. Iron, as a cheap, readily accessible metal, has already shown its unique utility. This review attempts to focus on C–H bond cleavage in oxidative transformation via iron catalysis, as well as applications in synthetic chemistry.