Seven-Membered Rings

This chapter summarises the chemistry of seven-membered heterocycles published in 2009 and puts particular emphasis on research focussing on the construction and reactions of these heterocyclic systems. In recent years there appears to have been a trend towards more complex molecules with more than one heteroatom. While benzodiazepines and benzothiazepines continue to be important heterocyclic motifs in the synthesis of biologically active molecules there has been a resurgence in the synthesis of azepines and their fused derivatives.

Reviews published during 2009 included a summary of the strategies towards the synthesis of the stemona alkaloids that contain a pyrroloazepine system <09EJ02421> and the synthesis of 3-methylbenzoxepines and 3-methyl-l-benzoxepines <09H(79)243>.