3-Ylidene-1-pyrrolines: Synthesis, reactions and perspectives

[Display omitted] •Synthetic approaches to 3-ylidene-1-pyrrolines are reviewed.•Reactions of 3-ylidene-1-pyrrolines involving nucleophilic nitrogen atom are summarized.•Reactions of 3-ylidene-1-pyrrolines involving an imine and a CC bond are presented. 3-Ylidene-1-pyrrolines are a class of five-membered cyclic imines possessing reactive imine bond and exocyclic double carbon–carbon bond, as well as nucleophilic nitrogen atom. In contrast to parent 1-pyrrolines, these compounds received much less attention from researchers. Neither methods of synthesis nor reactions of 3-ylidene-1-pyrrolines have ever been reviewed. However, a unique combination of reactive sites renders them suitable precursors for various pyrrolidine derivatives and complex polyheterocyclic molecules, as was demonstrated by recent papers. Thus, this digest reviews approaches to 3-ylidene-1-pyrrolines and their reactions and is aimed to provide a reader a general insight into chemistry of these heterocycles.