Visible-light-mediated synthesis of functionalized benzofurans: an update

Functionalized benzofurans are attractive chemical motifs with various pharmacological and physiological applications, therefore chemists are constantly working to develop new and superior methods for their synthesis. During the past decade, significant upsurge of interest can be found in the application of visible-light-mediated chemical reactions for the synthesis of a variety of molecules, including benzofuran derivatives. This would be the first comprehensive review generalizing synthetic methodologies toward functionalized benzofurans under visible-light-assisted conditions. The review will describe different possible visible-light-mediated synthesis and briefly describe the mechanisms of the reactions.