Professor Zhang Pengfei of Hangzhou Normal University cooperated with Professor Liu Xiaogang of the National University of Singapore to analyze and sort out the scientific problems and key technologies in the preparation and industrialization of quinolones, and was invited to publish a summary paper entitled “Recent advances in the catalytic synthesis of 4-quinones” in the recently published Chem(IF 14.104). In addition to combing the traditional antibacterial functions of 4-quinones, this paper systematically introduces the methods of constructing 4-quinolones by metal catalysis, asymmetric catalysis and biocatalysis, deeply analyzes and puts forward the corresponding catalytic mechanism and new strategies for catalytic construction, and looks forward to its new uses in anti-tumor and anti-AIDS.