Multicomponent Reactions in the Synthesis of Antiviral Compounds

Background: Multicomponent reactions are one-pot processes for the synthesis of highly functionalized hetero-cyclic and hetero-acyclic compounds, often endowed with biological activity. Objective: Multicomponent reactions are considered green processes with a high atom economy. In addition, they present advantages compared to the classic synthetic methods, such as high efficiency and low waste production. Methods: In these reactions, two or more reagents are combined together in the same flask to yield a product containing almost all the atoms of the starting materials. Results: The scope of this review is to present an overview of the application of multicomponent reactions in the synthesis of compounds endowed with antiviral activity. The syntheses are classified depending on the viral target. Conclusion: Multicomponent reactions can be applied to all the stages of the drug discovery and development process, making them very useful in the search for new agents active against emerging (viral) pathogens.