Recent Advances Towards the Synthesis of Dihydrobenzofurans and Dihydroisobenzofurans

The 2,3‐dihydrobenzofuran heterocyclic systems are found in various biologically active natural and pharmaceutical products of biological relevance such as Phalarine, Rocaglamide, and Furaquinocin A. The interest in the study of 2,3‐dihydrobenzofurans is constantly increasing because of their numerous biological properties such as anti‐tumor, anti‐cancer, anti‐tubercular, and anti‐malarial activities. Different methods have been established towards the synthesis of 2,3‐dihydrobenzofurans involved via intra‐ and inter‐molecular reactions. Besides, the 1,3‐dihydroisobenzofuran structure has been identified as a fundamental nucleus in many natural products, bioactive compounds, and functional molecules (e. g., Pestacin, Isopestacin, Citalopram, Xylarinol B, Matriisobenzofuran, Thunberginol F7‐O‐β‐D‐glucopyranoside). On the other hand, 1,3‐disubstituted isobenzofurans are powerful structural motifs with a wide range of biological activities, like anti‐inflammatory, anti‐histaminic, and anti‐HIV. In the last few years, a decent number of diligent synthetic approaches have been demonstrated toward synthesizing 1,3‐disubstituted isobenzofurans. This review focuses on the effective synthetic routes developed to construct 2,3‐dihydrobenzofurans and 1,3‐dihydroisobenzofurans and their applications in recent years.