Opportunities and challenges for direct C–H functionalization of piperazines

Piperazine ranks within the top three most utilized N-heterocyclic moieties in FDA-approved small-molecule pharmaceuticals. Herein we summarize the current synthetic methods available to perform C–H functionalization on piperazines in order to lend structural diversity to this privileged drug scaffold. Multiple approaches such as those involving α-lithiation trapping, transition-metal-catalyzed α-C–H functionalizations, and photoredox catalysis are discussed. We also highlight the difficulties experienced when successful methods for α-C–H functionalization of acyclic amines and saturated mono-nitrogen heterocyclic compounds (such as piperidines and pyrrolidines) were applied to piperazine substrates.