Overview of coumarin-fused-coumarins: synthesis, photophysical properties and their applications

Coumarin-fused-coumarins have attracted significant attention in the scientific world owing to their boundless applications in interdisciplinary areas. Various synthetic pathways have been developed to construct novel coumarin-fused-coumarin analogues by the fusion of modern methodologies with a classical Pechmann reaction or Knoevenagel condensation. Owing to their extended molecular framework, they possess interesting photophysical properties depending on the fused coumarin ring systems. This review highlights previously published reports on the synthetic strategies for structurally diverse coumarin-fused-coumarins. Furthermore, the scope of the synthesized biscoumarin-fused entities is described by highlighting their photophysical properties and applications.