The Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons (HWE) reaction has become well established among existing methodologies for the highly stereoselective olefination of carbonyl compounds. The reliability of this reaction in terms of its robustness, high stereoselectivity, and broad substrate scope permit retrosynthetic disconnection of the olefin bond in α,β-unsaturated carbonyl intermediates in natural product synthesis. This review discusses recent applications of the HWE reaction in natural product synthesis, highlighting its use for carbon chain elongation, coupling reactions of synthetic segments, ring-closing reactions, tandem reactions including HWE olefination, and asymmetric reactions.

在羰基化合物的高度立体选择性烯化反应的现有方法中，霍纳-沃兹沃思-埃蒙斯（HWE）反应已得到很好的确立。就其稳健性，高立体选择性和广泛的底物范围而言，该反应的可靠性允许在天然产物合成中α，β-不饱和羰基中间体中烯烃键的反合成断开。这篇综述讨论了HWE反应在天然产物合成中的最新应用，重点介绍了其在碳链延长，合成链段的偶联反应，闭环反应，串联反应（包括HWE烯化反应）和不对称反应中的用途。