An Introductory Overview of C–H Bond Activation/ Functionalization Chemistry with Focus on Catalytic C(sp3)–H Bond Borylation

The direct and selective functionalization of C–H bonds provides novel disconnections and innovative strategies to streamline the synthesis of molecules with diverse complexities. However, despite the significant advances in the elaboration of techniques for C–H activation, the utilization of unactivated C(sp3)–H bonds remains challenging. In particular, asymmetric transformation of C(sp3)–H bonds is underdeveloped owing to the lack of catalytic systems that can competently discriminate among ubiquitous C–H bonds in organic molecules. This short review aims to outline the challenges and strategies for the catalytic functionalization of C(sp3)–H bonds giving a general and non-exhaustive explanatory approach. Current strategies on the basis of the substrates and reaction mechanisms are summarized in Section 1. Examples of enantioselective C–H bond transformations are then given in Section 2. Finally, in Section 3, an outline of current methodologies towards the direct borylation of C(sp3)–H bonds is described to showcase the importance of developing techniques for catalytic C–H bond chemistry. While we try to cover all excellent reports available in the literature on this topic, any omissions are unintentional, taking note of the most representative examples available.