Vicarious Nucleophilic Substitution of Hydrogen in the Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds

Vicarious Nucleophilic Substitution of Hydrogen (VNS) is a valuable tool in the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. Its application to the introduction of a variety of substituents to heteroarenes and to the synthesis of heterocyclic rings, such as indoles or quinolines, covering representative examples of reactions, is reviewed. 1. Introduction 2. General Description of the VNS Reaction 3. VNS of Hydrogen in Heteroarenes 3.1. VNS of Hydrogen in the Nitro Derivatives of Heteroarenes 3.2. VNS of Hydrogen in Heteroarenes that do not Contain Activating Substituents 4. Heterocyclic compounds as Nucleophilic Partners in VNS Reactions 5. Synthesis of Heterocyclic Rings via the VNS Reaction