Benzoboroxoles: Synthesis and applications in medicinal chemistry

Benzoboroxoles are cyclic boronic acids and they have gained significant attention amongst the organic and medicinal chemistry community in recent years with the approval of benzoboroxole based drugs such as tavaborole for onychomycosis and crisaborole for atopic dermatitis. There have been numerous other benzoboroxole-based compounds identified that exhibit excellent biological activity against wide variety of diseases. Much of the recent literature describes the preparation of functionalized benzoboroxoles and their applications in organic synthesis, materials, and medicinal chemistry. This review outlines the various methods reported for the synthesis of this class of compounds along with few recent applications of benzoboroxoles in medicinal chemistry.