Recent Advances in Cycloaddition Reactions of Donor‐Acceptor Oxiranes via Carbon–Carbon Bond Cleavage

Oxiranes exhibit two distinct ring-opening modes: cleavage of the C-O bond or cleavage of the C-C bond. Among these, reactions involving C-O bond cleavage have been extensively reviewed. This article provides an overview of the research progress over the past several decades on the cycloaddition reactions of donor-acceptor (D-A) oxiranes via C-C bond cleavage. Under suitable catalytic conditions, D-A oxiranes undergo ring-opening through C-C bond cleavage to form carbonyl ylides, which can participate in [3+n] cycloaddition reactions with aldehydes, imines, alkenes, alkynes, indoles, purines, etc.