Recent advances in organocatalytic atroposelective reactions

• Henrich Szabados and
• Radovan Šebesta

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 55–121, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.6

• 24. NHC-catalyzed atroposelective reactions Organocatalysis with N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) became one of the main types of covalent activation strategies, which grew into a very diverse area, allowing the synthesis of a wide array of interesting structures. Also, in atroposelective synthesis, NHC

Non-covalent organocatalyzed enantioselective cyclization reactions of α,β-unsaturated imines

• Sergio Torres-Oya and
• Mercedes Zurro

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 3221–3255, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.268

• -raising activation (amine-based catalysis and N-heterocyclic carbenes), and iii) LUMO-lowering and HOMO-raising activation (bifunctional thioureas and squaramides). Due to the ubiquitous nature of non-covalent interactions in organic systems, they can play a decisive role in asymmetric transformations [15

1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate as suitable solvent for BF₃: the case of alkyne hydration. Chemistry vs electrochemistry

• Marta David,
• Elisa Galli,
• Richard C. D. Brown,
• Marta Feroci,
• Fabrizio Vetica and
• Martina Bortolami

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1966–1981, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.147

• -heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), extensively studied as organocatalysts as well as ligands for transition-metal-promoted synthetic methodologies [97][98][99]. Under anodic oxidation, the electrogeneration of boron trifluoride (BF3) from tetrafluoroborate ILs occurs [100][101]. Moreover, we have recently

• [90][91]. Due to their wide electrochemical window, imidazolium ILs are commonly used in organic electrochemistry, simultaneously as solvents and supporting electrolytes [92][93][94]. In addition, the cathodic reduction (both in batch [95] and in flow [96]) can be exploited for the generation of N

Aldiminium and 1,2,3-triazolium dithiocarboxylate zwitterions derived from cyclic (alkyl)(amino) and mesoionic carbenes

• Nedra Touj,
• François Mazars,
• Guillermo Zaragoza and
• Lionel Delaude

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1947–1956, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.145

• weaker basicity and greater modularity, the related 1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidene derivatives D have been mainly employed in organocatalysis [6]. Besides these four types of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), other families of cyclic compounds have been actively pursued to further expand the diversity of singlet

• applications [24][25][26][27][28]. N-Heterocyclic carbenes and their enetetramine dimers readily add to the central carbon atom of allenes and heteroallenes X=C=Y (X, Y = CR2, NR, O, S) to afford zwitterionic adducts [29]. In particular, their reaction with carbon disulfide affords stable azolium-2

Beyond n-dopants for organic semiconductors: use of bibenzo[d]imidazoles in UV-promoted dehalogenation reactions of organic halides

• Kan Tang,
• Megan R. Brown,
• Chad Risko,
• Melissa K. Gish,
• Garry Rumbles,
• Phuc H. Pham,
• Oana R. Luca,
• Stephen Barlow and
• Seth R. Marder

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1912–1922, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.142

• achieved using highly reducing metals, molecular reductants can potentially enable more selectivity, as required for the use of such reactions in the synthesis of molecules bearing various functional groups. In particular, Wanzlick dimers (C=C-bonded dimers of N-heterocyclic carbenes, Figure 1a, i) have

Recent advancements in iodide/phosphine-mediated photoredox radical reactions

• Tinglan Liu,
• Yu Zhou,
• Junhong Tang and
• Chengming Wang

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1785–1803, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.131

• . PPh3-catalyzed alkylative iododecarboxylation with LiI. Visible-light-triggered iodination facilitated by N-heterocyclic carbenes. Visible-light-induced photolysis of phosphonium iodide salts for monofluoromethylation. Funding This work was financially supported by the Central University Basic

Active-metal template clipping synthesis of novel [2]rotaxanes

• Cătălin C. Anghel,
• Teodor A. Cucuiet,
• Niculina D. Hădade and
• Ion Grosu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1776–1784, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.130

• . Our results proved that the CuAAC reaction catalyzed by copper(I) N-heterocyclic carbenes can be successfully used in the synthesis of [2]rotaxanes. This, combined with the fast and simple assembly of [CuCl(SIMes)] [45][46] could lead to the development of a Cu(I) NHC click chemistry in the field of

Application of N-heterocyclic carbene–Cu(I) complexes as catalysts in organic synthesis: a review

• Nosheen Beig,
• Varsha Goyal and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1408–1442, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.102

• Nosheen Beig Varsha Goyal Raj K. Bansal Department of Chemistry, The IIS (deemed to be University), Jaipur, 302 020, India 10.3762/bjoc.19.102 Abstract N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are a special type of carbenes in which the carbene carbon atom is part of the nitrogen heterocyclic ring. Due to

• addition; [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction; hydrosilylation reaction; N-heterocyclic carbenes; NHC–Cu complexes; NHC–Cu complexes as catalyst; Introduction N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are a neutral species having the carbene carbon atom as a part of the nitrogen heterocyclic ring. The transient

• reaction of the carbene 1,3-dimesitylimidazol-2-ylidene (7a) with carbon tetrachloride in THF (Scheme 4) [5]. Structure of N-heterocyclic carbenes N-Heterocyclic carbenes contain at least one nitrogen atom and there may be another nitrogen atom or a sulfur atom present in the heterocycle. A general

Aromatic C–H bond functionalization through organocatalyzed asymmetric intermolecular aza-Friedel–Crafts reaction: a recent update

• Anup Biswas

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 956–981, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.72

• the reaction partners in a highly ordered three dimensional transition state through noncovalent interactions (like H-bonding, π–π interactions) thus promoting the stereoselective reaction. Examples of covalent bonding organocatalysts are amines [6][7], N-heterocyclic carbenes [8][9], phosphines [10

Mechanochemical solid state synthesis of copper(I)/NHC complexes with K₃PO₄

• Ina Remy-Speckmann,
• Birte M. Zimmermann,
• Mahadeb Gorai,
• Martin Lerch and
• Johannes F. Teichert

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 440–447, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.34

• been shown to be active in a variety of reduction/hydrogenation transformations employing dihydrogen as terminal reducing agent. Keywords: ball mill; bifunctional catalysis; catalytic hydrogenations; copper; mechanochemical synthesis; N-heterocyclic carbenes; Introduction Prominent goals of green

Total synthesis of insect sex pheromones: recent improvements based on iron-mediated cross-coupling chemistry

• Eric Gayon,
• Guillaume Lefèvre,
• Olivier Guerret,
• Adrien Tintar and
• Pablo Chourreu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 158–166, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.15

• described an elegant aryl–aryl cross-coupling procedure suppressing the formation of Grignard homocoupling byproducts relying on the use of FeF3 as catalyst, associated with strong N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and a source of fluoride anions [28]. A similar procedure involving sodium alkoxide additives

Functionalization of imidazole N-oxide: a recent discovery in organic transformations

• Koustav Singha,
• Imran Habib and
• Mossaraf Hossain

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1575–1588, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.168

• the past years are discussed. This review contains cycloaddition reactions, nucleophilic halogenation reactions, metal-free coupling reactions, formation of N-heterocyclic carbenes, and multicomponent reactions, mainly three-component reactions. The mentioned methodologies have been performed by

First example of organocatalysis by cathodic N-heterocyclic carbene generation and accumulation using a divided electrochemical flow cell

• Daniele Rocco,
• Ana A. Folgueiras-Amador,
• Richard C. D. Brown and
• Marta Feroci

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 979–990, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.98

• . Esterification of trans cinnamaldehyde Once the possibility of obtaining the Breslow intermediate was demonstrated, another typical reaction of N-heterocyclic carbenes was tested: the oxidative esterification of cinnamaldehyde in the presence of alcohols. To carry out these experiments three different alcohols

Recent advances in organocatalytic asymmetric aza-Michael reactions of amines and amides

• Pratibha Sharma,
• Raakhi Gupta and
• Raj K. Bansal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 2585–2610, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.173

• and enantiomeric excesses. On the other hand, N-heterocyclic carbenes and chiral pyrrolidine derivatives acting through covalent bond formation such as the iminium ions with the substrates have also been included. Wherever possible, a comparison has been made between the efficacies of various

• -2,3-dihydro-4-quinolones 99 were obtained in good yields of up to 95% and good ee (58–72%) (Table 22) [61]. 2. Covalent-bonding organocatalysis of aza-Michael reactions This category of organocatalysts includes N-heterocyclic carbenes and pyrrolidine derivatives. 2.1 Catalysis by N-heterocyclic

• carbenes (NHC) In recent years, NHCs have been used as organocatalysts for a wide variety of reactions [62]. Wang et al. investigated the use of several 1,2,4-triazolo-annelated chiral NHCs as organocatalysts to catalyze enantioselective aza-MR between primary amines (100) and β-trifluoromethyl-β

Asymmetric organocatalyzed synthesis of coumarin derivatives

• Natália M. Moreira,
• Lorena S. R. Martelli and
• Arlene G. Corrêa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1952–1980, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.128

• stereogenic centers. Review A plethora of highly effective small‐molecule organocatalysts have enriched the field of organic synthesis [27], including chiral proline derivatives, N‐heterocyclic carbenes, chiral thioureas and Brønsted acids as well as phase‐transfer catalysts (PTC), such as the quaternary

• ]coumarins are formed with good to excellent yields and enantioselectivities (Scheme 14). N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) have also been successfully used as organocatalysts, in particular, to obtain coumarin derivatives [47]. In this context, Yetra et al. reported a NHC catalyzed reaction of 2-bromoenals 46

Electron-rich triarylphosphines as nucleophilic catalysts for oxa-Michael reactions

• Susanne M. Fischer,
• Simon Renner,
• A. Daniel Boese and
• Christian Slugovc

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1689–1697, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.117

• prepared with nucleophilic catalysis using 10 mol % N-heterocyclic carbenes such as 1,3,4-triphenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidene or 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene. The polymerization was carried out at room temperature for 24 h and no solvent was used. The resulting reaction

Recent advances in palladium-catalysed asymmetric 1,4–additions of arylboronic acids to conjugated enones and chromones

• Jan Bartáček,
• Jan Svoboda,
• Martin Kocúrik,
• Jaroslav Pochobradský,
• Alexander Čegan,
• Miloš Sedlák and
• Jiří Váňa

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1048–1085, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.84

• oxidative Heck-type product. The authors stated that as a result of the coordination with PPh3, there is a steric hindrance disfavouring the β-hydride elimination [43]. Catalytic systems based on NHC ligands Historically, the second type of ligands used were N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC). The first use was

Synergy between supported ionic liquid-like phases and immobilized palladium N-heterocyclic carbene–phosphine complexes for the Negishi reaction under flow conditions

• Edgar Peris,
• Raúl Porcar,
• María Macia,
• Jesús Alcázar,
• Eduardo García-Verdugo and
• Santiago V. Luis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 1924–1935, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.159

• cross-coupling; NHC complex; palladium; supported ionic liquid; Introduction N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are known as efficient coordination ligands for different types of metals. The main feature of NHC complexes is their structural tunability [1]. Thus, their catalytic efficiency can be easily

Copper catalysis with redox-active ligands

• Agnideep Das,
• Yufeng Ren,
• Cheriehan Hessin and
• Marine Desage-El Murr

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 858–870, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.77

• applications in various synthetic fields by utilizing the ability of copper to sustain mono- and bielectronic elementary steps. Further to the development of well-defined copper complexes with classical ligands such as phosphines and N-heterocyclic carbenes, a new and fast-expanding area of research is

Copper-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate reduction of α,β-unsaturated esters with chiral phenol–carbene ligands

• Shohei Mimura,
• Sho Mizushima,
• Yohei Shimizu and
• Masaya Sawamura

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 537–543, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.50

• chiral p-tol-BINAP/copper catalyst established the excellent utility of chiral bisphosphine ligands for this type of reaction [4]. Surprisingly, however, chiral ligands based on N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) [12] have not been applied to the conjugate reduction of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds

Architecture and synthesis of P,N-heterocyclic phosphine ligands

• Wisdom A. Munzeiwa,
• Bernard Omondi and
• Vincent O. Nyamori

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 362–383, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.35

• steps, the lithiation and the introduction of the phosphine were performed at low temperature (−70 °C), compound 81 was obtained in 63% yield [80]. In both instances, the other isomer was present in minute quantities and could be separated by recrystallization. Hybrid phosphine N-heterocyclic carbenes

Recent advances on the transition-metal-catalyzed synthesis of imidazopyridines: an updated coverage

• Gagandeep Kour Reen,
• Ashok Kumar and
• Pratibha Sharma

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1612–1704, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.165

Ruthenium-based olefin metathesis catalysts with monodentate unsymmetrical NHC ligands

• Veronica Paradiso,
• Chiara Costabile and
• Fabia Grisi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 3122–3149, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.292

• to the current state of research are discussed. Keywords: ligand design; olefin metathesis; ruthenium catalysts; selectivity; unsymmetrical N-heterocyclic carbenes; Introduction The transition metal-catalyzed olefin metathesis reaction is an indispensable synthetic tool for the construction of new

The influence of the cationic carbenes on the initiation kinetics of ruthenium-based metathesis catalysts; a DFT study

• Magdalena Jawiczuk,
• Angelika Janaszkiewicz and
• Bartosz Trzaskowski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 2872–2880, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.266

• agreement with previous literature reports for asymmetrical N-heterocyclic carbenes, as well as accurate DLPNO-CCSD(T) calculations (see Supporting Information File 1) [49][55]. The change of the solvent from CH2Cl2 to water only slightly altered the calculated dimerization energies and also indicated

Thiocarbonyl-enabled ferrocene C–H nitrogenation by cobalt(III) catalysis: thermal and mechanochemical

• Santhivardhana Reddy Yetra,
• Zhigao Shen,
• Hui Wang and
• Lutz Ackermann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 1546–1553, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.131

• and Discussion We initiated our studies by probing various reaction conditions for the envisioned C–H amidation of ferrocene 1a (Table 1). Among a variety of ligands, N-heterocyclic carbenes and phosphines provided unsatisfactory results (Table 1, entries 1–3), while the product 3aa was formed when