Résumé
This chapter explores the versatility of SmI
2
by describing different types of SmI
2
‐mediated reactions together with some of the most elegant applications in natural product synthesis. The Reformatsky reaction is a reductive condensation of an α‐halo ester with an aldehyde (or a ketone) in the presence of different metal salts, to form the corresponding β‐hydroxy‐esters. In 1983, Kagan and coworkers described the first example of a SmI
2
‐promoted pinacol reaction; a process that involves a reductive coupling between two carbonyl groups to generate vicinal diols or other related species. SmI
2
can also promote different classes of fragmentation reactions, which usually involve strained C‐C bonds that can be found in cyclopropane and cyclobutane systems as well as in heterocycles characterized by weak heteroatom‐ heteroatom bonds. Paclitaxel, also referred to as Taxol, was discovered as part of a National Cancer Institute program aimed at unveiling natural products with anticancer activities.