Applications of Wittig Reaction in the Total Synthesis of Natural Macrolides

Abstract The Wittig reaction involves the synthesis of an alkene via the conversion of an aldehyde or ketone with the already generated ylide from a phosphonium salt. Significantly, when this important name reaction is employed the desired alkenes are constructed via a predictable manner, thus resultant particularly are useful in the total synthesis of natural products and synthetic complex organic compounds with definite geometric isomers, exhibiting diverse biological potencies. In this review we try to highlight the applications of the Wittig reaction as an efficient and attractive strategy in the total synthesis of macrolides from 2008 to 2020.