Recent Advances in Organometallic Reagents and Catalysts: A Concise Strategy to Synthesize Cannabinoid Natural Products

Abstract Cannabis sativa L., a genus of the Cannabis family, is an exclusive source of C21 terpenophenolic cannabinoids and an important class of bioactive compounds known for their health effects. Moreover, cannabinoids are found to exhibit remarkable properties in treating various ailments like rheumatism, asthma, glaucoma, fatigue, insomnia, nausea, and epilepsy. This review shares a broad interest in examining the detailed chemistry of significant cannabinoids—THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol)—with respect to their synthetic advances using organometallic reagents and catalysis. The studies highlighted herein manifest the compilation of a range of metal reagents such as Au, Ru, Pd, Mo, Ir, Rh, Re, Cu, Ni, and Zn for generating cannabinoid natural products from simple building blocks, with emphasis on breakthroughs and potential for their constructive synthesis.