The Synthesis of Substituted Cyclopropanes and Cyclopropenes by the Reductive Cyclisation of Polychloroalkanes

The methods of synthesis of three-carbon rings-substituted cyclopropanes and cyclopropenes, obtained by the action of various metals on polychloroalkanes with chlorine-containing groups in the 1,3-positions relative to one another, are reviewed. Reductive cyclisation with zinc of compounds having the groups $-\mathrm{C}\mathrm{Cl}_2\mathrm{C}\mathrm{H}_2\mathrm{C}\mathrm{Cl}\!\!<$ or $-\mathrm{C}\mathrm{Cl}_3\mathrm{C}\mathrm{H}_2\mathrm{C}\mathrm{Cl}\!\!<$ gives rise to new possibilities for the synthesis of substituted cyclopropanes. A new method of synthesising 1,2-disubstituted cyclopropenes from compounds with the group $-\mathrm{C}\mathrm{Cl}_2\mathrm{C}\mathrm{H}_2\mathrm{C}\mathrm{Cl}_2$ is examined. The bibliography includes 87 references.