Recent advances in the field of direct oxidative C–H functionalization of inactivated arenes, as one of the main tools of green chemistry, are discussed. Examples of methodologies of building “carbon–carbon”, “carbon–oxygen”, “carbon–nitrogen” and “carbon–sulfur” bonds, using catalysis with palladium compounds, oxidation with derivatives of hypervalent iodine, and by electrochemical and photochemical transformations, are given.