Most of compounds containing more than one reactive groups may produce several byproducts during the coupling process. Selective carbon-heteroatom coupling reactions, which have merits of high synthetic efficiency and step economy, are the best choice to resolve the problem. Although they have made great progress, they deserve further exploration. This review discusses their recent advances and intend to inspire the research in the future. It is organized on the basis of selective carbon-heteroatom coupling reaction types, including selective C-N and C-N, C-N and C-O, C-O and C-O, C-C and C-N coupling reactions.