The chemistry of heterocyclic compounds has traditionally been and remains a bright area of chemical science in Russia. This is due to the fact that many heterocycles find the widest application. These compounds are the key structural fragments of most drugs, plant protection agents. Many natural compounds are also derivatives of heterocycles. At present, more than half of the hundreds of millions of known chemical compounds are heterocycles. This collective review is devoted to the achievements of Russian chemists in this field over the last 15–20 years. The review presents the achievements of leading heterocyclists representing both RAS institutes and university science. It is worth noting the wide scope of the review, both in terms of the geography of author teams, covering the whole of our large country, and in terms of the diversity of research areas. Practically all major types of heterocycles are represented in the review. The special attention is focused on the practical applications of heterocycles in the design of new drugs and biologically active compounds, high-energy molecules, materials for organic electronics and photovoltaics, new ligands for coordination chemistry, and many other rapidly developing areas. These practical advances would not be possible without the development of new fundamental transformations in heterocyclic chemistry. Bibliography — 2237 references.

Domino reactions of imines with difluorocarbene in the presence of electron-deficient alkynes lead to 2-fluoropyrrole derivatives. The process involves intermediate azomethine ylide formation, its 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to alkyne, followed by dehydrofluorination. A modified difluorocarbene generation method using active lead for dibromodifluoromethane reduction is proposed, providing shorter reaction time and improved yields of fluoropyrroles. The reactions with monoactivated acetylenes occur regioselectively. The cycloaddition of ylides to dipolarophiles such as phenylpropynal, whose carbonyl group is more active than the triple bond, gives rise to oxazolidine derivatives, implying a change in the reaction site.