New synthetic methods of flavones

Flavones are a group of naturally occurring compounds that widely distributed in the plant kingdom, and have been associated with a wide variety of biological and pharmaceutical activities. Traditionally there are two main methods available to synthesize flavones, i. e., the chalcone route and Baker-Venkataraman method. Recently, many new methods have been discovered for the synthesis of flavones. The modified Baker-Venkataraman methods and carbonylative annulation of iodophenol acetate, and other new methods for constructing flavones are reviewed in this paper.