The nitrovinyl moiety is surely one of the most reactive fragments in organic chemistry, continuously employed to explore original pathways and reach new targets. One of the most important classes of chemicals containing this fragment are nitro-functionalised analogues of 1,3-butadiene. In this paper a comprehensive review study of these compounds is performed. The manuscript includes an analysis of physicochemical properties, spectral characteristic, synthesis, biological activity, and possible transformations of nitro substituted analogues of 1,3-butadiene. The analysis was divided into several parts, depending on the number of nitro groups included in the structure of a 1,3-butadiene analogue. In addition, the work includes information about hazards and safety principles when working with nitro compounds. Based on the analysis of the literature, it can be concluded that nitro-functionalised analogues of 1,3-butadiene exhibit diversified profile of properties, and an outstanding potential as valuable reagents in organic synthesis useful to obtain heterocycles that can be applied in medicine.