Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for multicomponent reactions

Organic synthesis performed through multicomponent reactions is an attractive area of research in organic chemistry. Multicomponent reactions involve more than two starting reagents that couple in an exclusive ordered mode under the same reaction conditions to form a single product which contains the essential parts of the starting materials. Multicomponent reactions are powerful tools in modern drug discovery processes, because they are an important source of molecular diversity, allowing rapid, automated and high throughput generation of organic compounds. This review aims to illustrate progress in a large variety of catalyzed multicomponent reactions performed with acid, base and metal heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts. Within each type of multicomponent approach, relevant products that can be obtained and their interest for industrial applications are presented.