The Pd-catalyzed Sonogashira reaction is a powerful method for the formation of C_sp2–C_sp bonds and has found application in a wide variety of areas including medicinal chemistry, agrochemistry, materials and electronics. Development of competent catalysts for the Sonogashira reaction is a particular scientific challenge since it is traditionally a di-metallic-mediated homogeneous catalytic process including some major drawbacks. This review provides a concise overview of the mechanistic aspects of the Cu co-catalyzed, Cu-free and Au-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling processes. More recent developments and next generation catalysts for the Sonogashira reaction are also presented. These include non transition-metal catalysts, metal free couplings and photo-induced protocols. Finally, the application of metal nanoparticles in Sonogashira reactions is presented. These include Pd nanoparticles, Pd bi- and tri-metallic nanoparticles, magnetically separable Pd/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, Ru nanoparticles and Au nanoparticles.

The incidence of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) has increased to alarming levels not only in developed countries but also in developing and underdeveloped countries. Scientific data have made it clear by now that patients with DM are predisposed to many other diseases. One of the worst associations of DM is with obesity and the number of DM patients with obesity is increasing at a very fast pace due to dramatic change in life style around the world in last few decades. This necessitates the discovery of new drugs to treat increasing numbers of people with both DM and obesity. Peroxisome Proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a well known target for DM and thiazolidiniones (TZDs; a common class of antidiabetic drug) which includes rosiglitazone and pioglitazone act through PPARγ. Recent studies have demonstrated that PPARγ apart from being important in glucose utilization also plays a critical role in lipid metabolism and energy homeostasis affecting long-term metabolic status. The possibility of selective modulation of PPARγ has opened up a whole new avenue of research and has the potential of producing some drug which can simultaneously fight both DM and obesity, without the side-effects of the currently available PPARγ modulators. Here, we discuss various aspects of selective modulation of PPARγ action.

A stereoselective vinylogous aldol reaction of N-monosubstituted tetronamides with aldehydes is described. The procedure is simple and scalable, works well with both aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes, and affords mainly the corresponding syn-aldol adducts. In many cases, the latter are obtained essentially free of their anti-isomers (dr > 99 : 1) in high yields (70–90%). Experimental and computational studies suggest that the observed diastereoselectivity arises through anti–syn isomer interconversion, enabled by an iterative retro-aldol/aldol reaction.