Progress of catalysts and reaction mechanisms of the methylation reaction with dimethyl carbanate

As a green chemical reagent,dimethyl carbonate(DMC) is widely used in organic synthesis as a methylating reagent instead of methyl halide,dimethyl sulfate and other methylating reagents due to its multiple functional groups.The progress of methylation reactions,which DMC reacts with the corresponding substrates are reviewed.Much attention has been focused on the catalysts and the plausible reaction mechanisms.Based on the review of the current research,the future orientations of DMC as a methylating reagent are presented.